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COPYRIGHT DEPOStT. 



^frje %z% to \\iz ^ixxQ&am 



An Exposition of the Great Commission 



REV. CHARLES E. BRADT, Ph. D. 

PASTOR FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
WICHITA, KANSAS 

Author of ik Capturing a Community for Christ," li A 
Working Church" Etc. 




CHICAGO 

THE WINONA PUBLISHING COMPANY 

1904 



i* 







^ 




COPYRIGHT 1904 

BY 

THE WINONA PUBLISHING COMPANY 



To My Wife 

Whose Intelligent Interest in the World* s 

Great Needy has Prompted Many, Myself Among 

the Number, to Study, Believe in, 

Pray for, and Give to Both Home and 

Foreign Missions 

With Increased Zeal and Devotion 



PRE-VIEW. 

The prayer of every true Christian is, "Thy 
kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth 
as it is in Heaven." The church has been 
organized to prepare the way, and hasten the 
day of the coming King and Kingdom. The 
church in its work is successful only as it is 
instrumental in doing this. Jesus Christ said 
unto His disciples, "I will give unto you the 
keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and the gates 
of hell shall not prevail against you. ,, Did 
He fulfill His promise? If so, where are the 
keys, and what are they? 

I have had a settled conviction for years 
that the secret of all successful christian work 
is found in literally obeying the commands of 
Christ to His followers. I have also come to 
believe that all of these commands receive their 
true setting and sanction in the light of His 
latest and greatest command known as The 
Great Commission. When one comes to ac- 
knowledge and obey that command he is fur- 
nished with a proper stimulus to obey the other 
commands of Christ, such as, to pray; to be 



©review 



filled with the Spirit ; to have faith, hope, love ; 
to search the scriptures; to go, give, work, 
deny self; in fact, all of the teachings of the 
Lord Jesus, the observance of which would 
help to cause God's Kingdom to come. There 
is an adequate occasion then which naturally 
calls forth the exercise of all of the Christian 
graces and services which the Lord commands, 
yet which are utterly impossible to develop 
properly until the Christian comes into sympa- 
thy with the peculiar enterprise of God to save 
a lost world, for which He gave His own life. 

I propose to show that the Key to the King- 
dom of God hangs on the golden chain of 
obedience to the Great Commission of Christ. 
That Commission reads: "And Jesus came 
and spake unto them saying, All authority hath 
been given unto me in Heaven and in earth. 
Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all the 
nations, baptizing them into the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; 
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 
I have commanded you: and lo, I am with 
you always even unto "the end of the world." 
(Matt, xxviii: 18-20.) 

I mean by "The Key to the Kingdom of 
God," that which will introduce this world, 



©review 



with all of its peoples and nations, into God's 
Kingdom, and bring that Kingdom, with all of 
its riches and glory into the hearts and lives 
of the people and nations of this world. I say, 
that key hangs upon the golden chain of obedi- 
ence to the great commission. Let us examine 
the chain to find the key, and apply the key to 
see if it fits. This is a labor sadly neglected 
even in our day. When John Calvin in his 
commentary reached Matt, xxviii : 18-20, con- 
taining the Great Commission and its blessed 
promise, he passed over it as without signifi- 
cance. The great body of the church of Christ 
have for the most part done the same thing. 
They not only have done so, they are doing so 
today. One-third of our churches and two- 
thirds of our church members, practically, give 
not a cent nor an intent, not a care nor a 
prayer for two-thirds of the human race who 
are living now without Christ and hence with- 
out hope and without God in the world. 

Charles Edwin Bradt. 
Wichita, Kansas. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER. PAGE. 

I. The Key Opens the Door to the 

Throne - - - - - - 15 

II. The Key Opens the Door to the 

King's Vestry 33 

III. The Key Opens the Door to the 

King's Council Chamber - - 57 

IV. The Key Opens the Windows of 

Heaven 76 

V. How to Apply the Key - - 101 

VI. Who Holds the Key - - - 128 

VII. The Triumph of the Kingdom - 142 



INTRODUCTION. 

BY A. W. HALSEY, D. D. 

"I love thy Kingdom Lord 
The House of thine abode, 
The Church our blest Redeemer saved 
With His own precious blood." 

Many generations of devout believers have 
sung these words without realizing how nar- 
row is that conception of the ''Kingdom" that 
makes it synonymous with the Church. It 
is doubtful if any Twentieth Century singer 
will thus limit the scope of the Kingdom. 

The Church has at last awakened to some 
adequate realization of the world embracing 
nature of that Kingdom "whose dominion is 
to be from sea to sea and from the river unto 
the ends of the earth." 

Twice only in the teachings of Christ does 
the word Church occur, but His entire ministry 
as recorded in the Gospels seems dominated by 
the thought of that Kingdom which finds its 
final expression in those masterful words now 
the inspiring cry of thousands. "Go ye into 
11 



ITntroDttctfon 



all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature." 

To ascertain where the Key is and to un- 
lock the double closed doors of this Kingdom 
and to awaken in others some idea of its price- 
less value, is a task of no mean order. Yet this 
is the high and holy ministry enjoined by the 
providence of God upon the Church of today. 

We may not altogether agree with the 
ardent student volunteer who raises his banner 
with the legend upon it "The Evangelization 
of the world in this generation," but we must 
admire his enthusiasm, his faith, his chivalric 
daring, and we must admit the possibility of 
his plea when we contrast the feeble instru- 
mentalities put forth with the large results at- 
tained within a generation on the shores of the 
Victoria Nyanza and Nyassa lakes or the trans- 
formation wrought in fair Formosa or the 
Pentecostal ingathering witnessed in Man- 
churia and Korea. The Church has indeed 
been taught by Her divine Lord, that "Obedi- 
ence to the Great Commission" is "the secret 
of all successful Christian work." 

The history of modern missions, the new 
Acts of the Apostles, no less than the history 
of God's dealing with His ancient people as 
12 



ITntrofcuction 



recorded in the books of the Old and New 
Testaments, emphasizes anew that obedience to 
His greatest command brings the largest bless- 
ing. 

The Church like Israel of old has been slow 
to learn this lesson. Jonah has had as many 
successors as critics, the one quite as harmful 
as the other. The modern missionary has left 
an apathetic and unbelieving Church without 
excuse. The facts verify the promise. Esther 
pleading successfully with the King of Kings 
for her people finds a parallel in Ann Judson, 
with her believing prayers for Burmah ; Elisha 
asking for a double portion of the spirit of 
Elijah has a true successor in Hudson Taylor 
on his knees before a map of China beseeching 
God for power to storm this stronghold of 
Satan ; Daniel because of his obedience is able 
to understand what the will of God is, but so 
is Mackay of Uganda able to endure the wrath 
of the King and enlighten his understanding 
regarding the Scripture. 

If the Church at Antioch received "showers 
of blessing" because it first truly interpreted 
the meaning of the word "Christian," so also 
can the little group of disciples at Hernhutt 
or Hermansburgh, or the First Presbyterian 
13 



Untrofcuctfon 



Church at Wichita, or the Central Church at 
New York, or scores of other churches in 
many denominations throughout the land attest 
the fidelity of God to His promise. "Prove 
Me now herewith saith the Lord of Hosts and 
see if I will not open the windows of Heaven 
and pour you out a blessing." 

The experimental stage is passed. That 
Church reaps the richest blessing which seeks 
to bless others. A prominent church in New 
York City recently celebrated the twentieth an- 
niversary of its present pastorate. In twenty 
years one million and a quarter of dollars had 
been contributed by the church. One million 
of this was spent on objects outside of itself — 
City Missions, Home Missions, Foreign Mis- 
sions. Need it be said that the church has 
been a great power for good in the community ? 

It is the divine law, and when the whole 
church recognizes its obligation the Kingdom 
of God will be established. "The time is short, 
the work vast, the reward great, the Master 
urges." 

A. W. Halsey. 



14 



CHAPTER I. 

THE KEY OPENS THE DOOR TO THE THRONE. 

Obedience to the Great Commission is the 
key that brings us into the presence of the 
King on His throne, enabling us to prevail 
with Him in prayer for the salvation of a lost 
world. 

The case stands just this way: unless we 
can come into the presence of the King on His 
throne, we cannot prevail with Him in prayer 
for the salvation of a lost world. But we can- 
not, we will not go thus into His presence 
unless we are willing to obey the Great Com- 
mission. Then we can and then we will go 
into His presence. 

Our illustration is that of Queen Esther. 
Mordecai knew very well that Esther must go 
personally into the presence of king Ahasue- 
rus if she would prevail in prayer with him 
in behalf of the people. He knew also that 
she would not thus go into the king's presence 
unless she had the burden of the people's 
salvation upon her heart to the extent that 
she would obey him, i. e., be willing to lay 
IS 



Ubc IKes to the IRingfcom 

down her life for them. Then she could and 
then she would go before the king. It is just 
so with us today. 

i. That this is true we are plainly taught 
in God's word. 

Christ says, "If ye abide in me and my 
words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will 
and it shall be done unto you." What does it 
mean to have Christ's words abide in us and 
for us to abide in Christ? It means to obey 
Him. Christ Himself leaves us in no doubt 
on this point. He says, "If ye keep my com- 
mandments ye shall abide in my love," i. e., in 
me. He says again, "He that hath my words 
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me 
and I will manifest myself unto him." Thus 
we have it very clearly taught that to obey 
Christ is to gain admission into His presence 
and prevail with Him in prayer. Now Christ's 
latest and greatest commandment to the chris- 
tian is to carry the Gospel to every creature. 
Christ's last words were: Ye shall be my wit- 
nesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and 
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the 
earth. And when He had said these things, 
He was taken up, and a cloud received Him 
out of their sight. (Acts 1 : 8-9.) 
16 



Qpens tbe Boor to tbe Ubrone 

But we do not have to go outside of the 
very words of the Great Commission itself 
to find scriptural support for this proposition. 
Christ says, "All authority hath been given 
unto me in Heaven and in earth." There is 
the King on His throne. Then he says, "Go 
ye into all the world . . . and I will 
be with you unto the end of the world." There 
is admission into the presence of the King, 
and the King's power vouchsafed, conditioned 
on obedience. When Christ says, "Go ye and 
lo I am with you," it is just another way of 
saying, "Go and lo! you are with me having 
almighty power." This is a very important 
fact, for 

If God's Kingdom is ever to come in the 
world, or the world into the Kingdom, God's 
people must get access to the throne of the 
King, and come into communion with Him ; 
in other words, be possessed of the power of 
prevailing prayer. For God says, "I will yet 
be entreated of concerning this thing." God 
says, "Ask of me and I will give thee the 
heathen for thine inheritance and the utter- 
most parts of the earth for thy possessions." 
He says, "Seek and ye shall find; but seek ye 
first the Kingdom of God." He says, "When 
b 17 



Ube IKes to tbe ftfn^om 

thou prayest, pray, Thy kingdom come; Thy 
will be done in earth as it is in heaven." He 
says, "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that 
He will send forth laborers into the harvest." 
This we will not do, we cannot do, until we can 
get into His presence ; and we cannot get into 
His presence as christians until we are ready 
to obey the Great Commission, for He has 
promised His All powerful presence on no 
other condition than that of obedience. 

2. This is true in the very nature of the case. 
How can the Church of Christ come into the 
real secret presence of the King of Glory as 
long as she is indifferent to the dearest desire 
of His heart, and the cause for which He gave 
His life? How can she hold real communion 
with Him with whom she has no real practical 
sympathy as regards the great concern of His 
soul? Such a thing is impossible. There is 
no such thing as communion with God today 
that enters into the deep flowing current of 
His life, apart from a longing for the world's 
salvation that means a willing obedience to go 
to the uttermost parts of the earth, if necessary, 
to preach Christ's Gospel to every creature. 
And I bring the charge against the church to- 
day, that as a body she does not know what 
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Qqcws tbe 2>oor to tbe Ubrone 

prevailing prayer is; as a church she is not 
praying in the real scriptural meaning of 
prayer. The secret of it all is, she is not 
obedient to Christ's command to go into all 
the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature. Until she is willing to obey, she 
cannot and will not pray, except as the Phar- 
isee prays, "I thank thee that I am not as 
other men are;" or as the returning prodigal 
and the- penitent backslider prays, "God be 
merciful to me a sinner I" But Christians have 
no business to stop at such prayers. 

When the church gets the world on her 
heart, immediately that burden will bring her 
to her knees in unselfish prayer: at once it 
will bring her into sympathy with Christ, and 
hence, it will bring her into the very presence 
of the King; then she will pray and pray pre- 
vailingly. We read : "Then Esther bade them 
return Mordecai this answer, Go, gather to- 
gether all the Jews that are present in Shushan, 
and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink 
three days, night or day : I also and my maid- 
ens will fast likewise ; and so will I go in unto 
the king, which is not according to the law: 
and if I perish, I perish. Now it came to 
pass on the third day, that Esther put on her 
19 



Ube ftes to tbe UunGfcom 

royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of 
the king's house, over against the king's house : 
and the king sat upon his royal throne in the 
royal house, over against the gate of the house. 
And it was so, when the king saw Esther the 
queen standing in the court, that she obtained 
favor in his sight: and the king held out to 
Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. 
So Esther drew near, and touched the top of 
the scepter. Then said the king unto her, What 
wilt thou, Queen Esther? and what is thy re- 
quest? it shall be even given thee to the half 
of the kingdom." That is our illustration. 

See Moses trudging up the mountainside 
with the burden of the people's salvation upon 
him. Where is he going? To meet God. 
And he meets Him. We hear him cry: "If 
thou wilt forgive their sin ! If not, blot me I 
pray thee out of the book which thou hast writ- 
ten." That is like Esther going in before the 
King on his throne, saying : "I will go in unto 
the King, and if I perish, I perish." Moses had 
left all to follow Christ, to go to the uttermost 
part of the earth with Him for the salvation of 
a lost race. Hence it is, he comes into the 
presence of the King, and beholding the glory 
of God, he is changed into His very likeness, 
20 



©pens tbe Door to tbe TTbrone 

so that the children of Israel could not stead- 
fastly look upon him ; and pleading with God 
in prayer, he saves a race and organizes the 
Kingdom of God on earth. 

See Abraham rising up early to climb the 
mountain. What for? To meet God! He 
has the burden of the world's salvation upon 
his heart : for his son Isaac was to be laid upon 
the altar, and in Isaac was the seed to be 
called which should bless all nations. He 
meets God also; he prevails with God in 
prayer, too. He is called the Friend of God, 
and Father of the Faithful, whose seed is 
coming to be as the sands of the seashore 
for multitude, — the seed of the Kingdom of 
God. 

See John Knox wrestling with God for 
Scotland until he is ready to die, praying, "Oh 
God, give me Scotland or I die." He had 
come into sympathy with the Son of God, who 
sweat great drops of blood in prayer for the 
lost world, and hence he found access to the 
throne and prevailed with God in prayer. 
Hence John Knox is called, "The man of God, 
the Light of Scotland, the Comfort of the 
Kirke, and the Mirror of Godliness ;" to whom 
God gave Scotland in answer to prayer, and 
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XTbe ftes to tbe Iktngfcom 

through whom the Kingdom of God has re- 
ceived an innumerable host of citizens. 

See Livingstone, away off there in Africa 
dying upon his knees, crying, "All I can add 
in my solitude is, may heaven's rich blessings 
come down on every one who will help to 
heal this open sore of the world !" This man, 
like the others who were obedient to the great 
commission, was given access to the throne 
of grace, in accordance with the promise of the 
King. When Stanley found him down there 
in the forests of Africa, he thought he had 
seen a celestial being. He had, too; one who 
had stood in the very presence of the King 
of Heaven. And, "Why was it," asks one, 
"that in ten years after Livingstone's death, 
Africa made greater advancement than in the 
previous ten centuries? All the world knows 
that it was through the vicarious, prevailing 
prayer of one of Scotland's noblest heroes." 

Yea, these men, and others like them, not 
#nly get into the secret presence of the King, 
but they get what they ask; they enjoy the 
privileges of prevailing prayer. They get 
within the Kingdom, and get the Kingdom 
within them, and help make it possible for the 
Kingdom of God to come into the world. 
22 



©pens tbe Doer to tbe TLbvonc 

Look at Pastor Harms. Coming into the 
Hermannsburg parish with his soul on fire for 
the salvation of a lost world, he urged his 
people to undertake a mission to the heathen. 
They showed a willingness to obey. But how ? 
They were poor. "Pray," said Harms, "pray." 
And they came into the presence of the King 
and urged God to extend His Kingdom until 
their work is one of the marvels of the age. 
"Six shillings from a widow, a sixpence from 
a laborer, and a silver penny from a little 
child," were the first gifts. Then "men as 
well as money began to be offered for the 
work, until a little company stood ready to 
go wherever God would send them, asking 
only to be sent to the field of greatest need. 
The field chosen was a district in Southern 
Africa. Then a party of converted German 
sailors arrived in the village, asking Pastor 
Harms to send them to Africa under the care 
of his missionaries. Then no less than sixty 
peasants immediately came forward and asked 
to be sent as colonists." Here was a stupen- 
dous enterprise. How could it be carried out ? 
It called for large resources. Harms said, "No 
one encouraged me, but the reverse. Even the 
truest friends and brethren hinted that I was 
23 



XTbe ftes to tbe ftinGfcom 

not in my senses." But, says he, "I knocked 
hard upon God. I prayed fervently to the 
Lord and laid the whole matter in His hands. 
As I arose from my knees at midnight, I said 
with a voice that almost startled me in the 
quiet room : 'Forward now, in God's name !' ,; 
The result? His obedient spirit to the heav- 
enly commission brought him into the very 
presence of the King. As a prince he wrestled 
with God and prevailed. 

"Seven years after the first missionary 
sailed," says one giving a history of this work, 
"the congregation at Hermannsburg was able 
to make the following remarkable report : In 
the home land they owned, and had in success- 
ful operation the mission house occupied by 
forty-five students ; the refuge farm, an asylum 
for discharged convicts occupied with twenty 
inmates ; a mission farm and a printing house. 
In Africa, they owned 40,000 acres of land, 
occupied by eight stations, at each of which 
comfortable houses and workshops had been 
erected and one hundred of their own number 
were already on the foreign field. Besides this 
they owned a ship and published a missionary 
magazine." All brought in seven years through 
prayer by a pastor and his people who set 
24 



QpcriB the 2>oor to tbe Ubrone 

themselves to seek first the Kingdom of God. 
Thus does God hear the prayers of those who 
obey Him. 

Why is it that the church of Jesus Christ 
is without power in prayer, today, as is mani- 
festly the case? It is because she is out of 
sympathy with the will and work of the Great 
Head of the Church. When the church gives 
less than two cents a week per member to ex- 
tend the work for which the Son of God gave 
every drop of blood in His body, she may, with 
such a performance, fool herself and some 
others, into the belief that she is interested in 
the extension of the Kingdom of God among 
men, but she cannot fool God. The Protestant 
Christians of the United States were worth 
last year, 1903, $23,000,000,000. They added 
to their permanent wealth last year $725,000,- 
000. All they gave last year to save two-thirds 
of the human race for time and eternity was 
one-twelfth of one-tenth of the increase of their 
permanent wealth. The church is not in sym- 
pathy with God in this work and hence her 
prayers rise no higher than her head. Jesus 
Christ said, "If ye abide in me and my words 
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and 
it shall be done unto you." If we abide in 
25 



TTbe Uses to tbe IRfng&om 

Jesus Christ we will be in holiest harmony 
with the great heart of the Son of God which 
broke sorrowing for a lost world. If His 
words abide in us, we will be obedient to the 
dearest desire and clearest command of the 
Son of God, who has all power in heaven and 
earth. Then, and not until then, can we pray, 
"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in 
earth as it is in heaven," and get an answer to 
our prayers. But then, we can. 

Dr. Van Dyke in his little book entitled "The 
Other Wise Man," tells us how there was a 
fourth wise man who knew about the birth of 
Christ the King. His name was Artaban. Ten 
days before the three wise men started on their 
journey from the East to find the King and 
bring presents and worship to Him, Artaban 
sold all his large property and converted his 
wealth into three great gems, a sapphire, a 
ruby, and a pearl; these he meant to present 
to the King along with the gifts of his com- 
panions, whom he expected to accompany to 
Bethlehem. The three other wise men had 
agreed to wait for him to join them at Bor- 
sippa, ten days after they saw the star appear. 
If at that time he did not come they would start 
on their journey without him. He made all 
26 



®pcns tbe 3>oor to tbe TTbrone 

haste to arrive at the appointed place. But 
just as he was approaching within a few miles 
of the place, where he was to meet his com- 
panions, after a ten days' hard riding on his 
faithful horse, he found, lying right across his 
path, a man whom he thought to be dead. He 
turned to leave him and hasten on his way, lest 
he should be too late to go with the other wise 
men to find the new born King. "But, as he 
turned, a long, faint, ghostly sigh came from 
the man's lips. The brown, bony ringers closed 
convulsively on the hem of the Magian's robe 
and held him fast. 

"Artaban's heart leaped to his throat, not 
with fear, but with dumb resentment at the im- 
portunity of this blind delay. 

"How could he stay here in the darkness to 
minister to a dying stranger ? What claim had 
this unknown fragment of human life upon his 
compassion or his service ? If he lingered but 
for an hour he could hardly reach Borsippa 
at the appointed time. His companions would 
think he had given up the journey. They 
would go without him. He would lose his 
quest. 

But if he went on now, the man would surely 
die. If he stayed, life might be restored. His 
27 



XTbe ftep to tbe Ifctnafcom 

spirit throbbed and fluttered with the urgency 
of the crisis. Should he risk the great reward 
of his divine faith for the sake of a single deed 
of human love ? Should he turn aside, if only 
for a moment, from following the star, to give 
a cup of cold water to a poor, perishing man ? 
" 'God of truth and purity/ he prayed, 'direct 
me in the holy path, the way of wisdom which 
Thou only knowest' 

"Then he turned back to the sick man." 
Owing to this deed of charity Artaban was 
too late to accompany the wise men on their 
journey to Bethlehem, and one of his gifts for 
the King had to be used. But he set out 
alone bearing the other two gems. When he 
arrived in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary had 
taken Jesus and fled to Egypt and the officers 
of Herod were just beginning their awful 
slaughter of the innocents. He heard the cry 
go through the streets ! "The soldiers ! The 
soldiers of Herod ! They are killing our chil- 
dren !" A mother with her little babe in her 
arms implored his protection. What should he 
do? what could he do? He took one of the 
gems which he had bought to present to Christ 
the King and bribed the officer to pass by that 
mother's babe. 

28 



Opens tbe Boor to tbe Ubrone 

Now he prayed : "God of Truth forgive my 
sin. Two of my gifts are gone. I have spent 
for man that which was meant for God. Shall 
I ever be worthy to see the face of the King ?" 

Bearing his other gift he started for Egypt. 
There he learned from a Hebrew Rabbi that 
those who would seek for Christ the King 
would do well to seek him among the poor and 
lowly, the sorrowful and the oppressed. For 
thirty-three years he sought Him thus, all the 
time ministering to the needs of the afflicted 
and distressed. One day, an old man, he found 
himself in Jerusalem, and saw great crowds 
going all in one direction. Artaban asked 
whither they were going ? 

1 'We are going,' they answered, 'to the 
place called Golgotha, outside the city walls, 
where there is to be an execution. Have you 
not heard what has happened? Two famous 
robbers are to be crucified, and with them an- 
other, called Jesus of Nazareth, a man who has 
done many wonderful works among the peo- 
ple, so that they love him greatly. But the 
priests and elders have said that he must die, 
because he gave himself out to be the Son of 
God. And Pilate has sent him to the cross 
because he said that he was the King of the 
29 



Ube TRes to tbe *gtfngfcom 

Jews.' . . . Artaban's heart beat un- 
steadily with that troubled, doubtful apprehen- 
sion which is the excitement of old age. But 
he said within himself : 'The ways of God are 
stranger than the thoughts of men, and it may 
be that I shall find the King at last, in the 
hands of His enemies, and shall come in time to 
offer my pearl for His ransom before He dies.' 

"So the old man followed the multitude with 
slow and painful steps towards the Damascus 
gate of the city. Just beyond the entrance 
of the guard-house a troop of Macedonian sol- 
diers came down the street, dragging a young 
girl with torn dress and dishevelled hair. As 
the Magian paused to look at her with compas- 
sion, she broke suddenly from the hands of 
her tormentors, and threw herself at his feet, 
clasping him around the knees. She had seen 
his white cap and the winged circle on his 
breast. 

" 'Have pity on me/ she cried, 'and save me, 
for the sake of the God of Purity !' " 

Artaban trembled. A struggle was going on 
in his breast. Then "he took the pearl from 
his bosom. Never had it seemed so luminous, 
so radiant, so full of tender, living lustre. He 
laid it in the hand of the slave. 
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©pens tbe Boor to tbe TTbrone 

" 'This is thy ransom, daughter ! It is the 
last of my treasures which I kept for the 
King.' " 

Just then the earth quaked and a tile from 
one of the buildings fell and struck the old man 
on the temple. As he was dying, those who 
stood near turned to listen to a voice which 
said: ''Come ye blessed of my Father, enter 
into the Kingdom prepared for you from the 
foundation of the world. For I was hungry 
and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and ye gave 
me drink. I was a stranger and ye took me 
in; naked and ye clothed me. I was sick and 
ye visited me. I was in prison and ye came 
unto me." 

"Then the old man's lips began to move, as 
if in answer, 'Not so, my Lord! For when 
saw I thee an hungered and fed thee? Or 
thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw I 
thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked 
and clothed thee? When saw I thee sick or 
in prison, and came unto thee? Three-and- 
thirty years have I looked for thee ; but I have 
never seen thy face, nor ministered to thee, my 
King.' 

"He ceased, and the sweet voice came again. 

" 'Verily I say unto thee, inasmuch as thou 
31 



Ube Ifces to tbe Tking&om 

hast done it unto one of the least of these my 
brethren, thou hast done it unto me. Inherit 
the Kingdom prepared for you from the foun- 
dation of the world.' " 



32 



Opens tbe Door to tbe Iking's IDestrs 



CHAPTER II. 

THE KEY OPENS THE DOOR TO THE KING'S 
VESTRY. 

The proposition which we shall consider in 
this chapter is, Obedience to the Great Com- 
mission is the key that opens the door into the 
vestry room of the King and secures the in- 
vestiture of power, — the anointing of the Holy 
Ghost. 

The case is simply this: unless we are in- 
vested with the authority of the Holy Spirit 
we will have no power to prevail with man- 
kind to enter into the Kingdom of God. But 
we cannot, we will not receive this investiture 
of power, unless we are willing to obey the 
Great Commission and go with Christ unto the 
uttermost part of the earth to preach the Gos- 
pel unto every creature. But whenever we are 
practically willing thus to obey, then we will 
receive this power. 

Our illustration is that of Elisha going with 
Elijah. Elijah knew that Elisha could not re- 
ceive a double portion of his spirit, i. e., be 
c 33 



Ube ffies to tbe ikmgfcom 

clothed with his mantle and invested with his 
power unless he was practically willing to go 
with him all the way to the end. But then he 
could and then he would receive such an in- 
vestiture. It is just so with us today if we 
would be clothed with the Spirit of Christ. 

I. That this is true we are plainly taught 
in God's Word. The Great Commission itself 
is our authority. Christ said, "All power is 
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, 
therefore, and teach all nations, . . . and 
lo, I am with you." That is, "My almighty 
power shall rest upon you when you are will- 
ing to carry out this command." All power, 
the power of God, is the power of the Holy 
Spirit, which Christ had without measure, and 
which He here promises His disciples upon 
condition of their obedience to the great com- 
mission. 

(i.) The great need of the church today 
is the power of the Holy Ghost. We must 
have the Holy Spirit if the Kingdom of God is 
ever established in the earth. For the King- 
dom of God is not meat and drink, but right- 
eousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
It is not by might, nor by power (military or 
civil) but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. The 
34 



©pens tbe 2>oor to tbe Kim's IDestrp 

fruits of the Spirit are : love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance, 
faith. They are all necessary to the coming 
Kingdom. The disciples said unto Jesus just 
before His ascension, "Wilt Thou at this time 
restore again the Kingdom to Israel? Jesus 
said, It is not for you to know the times or 
the seasons which the Father hath put in His 
own power; but ye shall receive power after 
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." That 
is, the coming of the Kingdom of God in the 
earth is conditioned upon the coming of the 
Holy Spirit in Christ's disciples with the Al- 
mighty power of God. This is their investi- 
ture. 

(2.) But the anointing of the disciples of 
Christ with the Holy Spirit is conditioned upon 
the willingness of Christ's disciples to go into 
all the world and preach the Gospel unto every 
creature. God says, "My people shall be will- 
ing in the day of My power" ; and unless they 
are willing thus to obey Christ, the power of 
Christ will not rest upon them, and the King- 
dom of God will not come. 

Look at our illustration. Elijah and Elisha 
were at Gilgal. Gilgal means a rolling away. 
It was one in name with the place where the 
35 



Ubc Ikes to tbe *ffungfcom 

Children of Israel had made their covenant 
with God immediately after entering the prom- 
ised land. It suggests the place of Israel's 
acceptance of Jehovah as their God, and where 
God in consequence rolled away their reproach 
and sin. Elijah put Elisha to the test at this 
place. He said, "Tarry here I pray; for Je- 
hovah hath sent me to Bethel." This is just 
where many Christians tarry. They never get 
farther than Gilgal, the place where they were 
converted. Their only experience is their 
birthday experience. They seem to think that 
is all there is to the Christian life. They do 
not even join the church. Have they not been 
converted ? Are they not children of God ? Is 
that not enough? They are satisfied to stop 
at Gilgal. They know nothing of the power 
of the Holy Spirit. But Elisha was not like 
that. He said, "As Jehovah liveth and as my 
soul liveth I will not leave thee, so they went 
down to Bethel." 

Bethel means the House of God. It was the 
place where Jacob saw, in his vision, a ladder 
set up on the earth and the top of it reached 
to heaven: and behold the angels of God 
ascending and descending upon it. And Je- 
hovah stood above it. Elijah put Elisha to 

36 



©pens tbe Door to tbe King's tDestrs 

another test at this place. He said, "Tarry 
here I pray thee for Jehovah hath sent me to 
Jericho." This is just where a great many 
Christians tarry, — at Bethel. They go as far 
as to join the church, and then they sit down 
and go to sleep. They have presented to them 
in God's house, visions of heaven and God and 
the holy angels. They build for themselves 
and their children beautiful temples to sit in. 
They organize a worship and service that is 
aesthetical and artistic in a high degree. But 
they know nothing of the power of the Holy 
Ghost to transform their own lives, nor 
through them to transform the lives of the mul- 
titudes either in their own community or else- 
where. They are salt, but not salt of the earth ; 
they are a light, but not the light of the world ; 
they are leaven but not leaven to leaven the 
lump of humanity. Their light is under a 
bushel, their salt is barrelled up in the church, 
the leaven is not mixed with the meal. So far 
as His power manifested in their lives is con- 
cerned, they know not whether there be any 
Holy Ghost. They stop at Bethel. Two-thirds 
of the members of our churches do not give a 
cent for the salvation of two-thirds of the 
human race. But Elisha was not like these. 

37 



Ubc licy to tbe ftingbom 

He said to Elijah: "As Jehovah liveth and as 
my soul liveth, I will not leave thee." So they 
came to Jericho. 

Jericho means fragrance. It is called in the 
Scripture the city of palm trees. Elijah put 
Elisha to the test here. He said, "Tarry here 
I pray thee for Jehovah hath sent me to the 
Jordan." We have quite a large number of 
Christian people who live in Jericho. Their 
lives are fragrant and beautiful in no small 
measure. If they are not like the shadow of 
a great rock in a weary land, they are at least 
like a city of palm trees to add shade and 
beauty to a fertile valley. If they are not like 
a city set on a hill which cannot be hidden, 
they are like a city of fragrance in a land of 
flowers. The Holy Spirit has not only con- 
verted them and brought them into God's 
house, but He has done much to transform 
their characters, adding beauty and grace, gen- 
tleness and patience, forgiveness and kindliness 
to their natures. But these people still do not 
know the power of God as manifest in the fill- 
ing of the Holy Spirit. They believe in the 
Holy Spirit ; they even pray that He may per- 
form His office work in their lives, and trans- 
form them into the character and likeness of 
38 



©pens tbe Door to tbe fling's IDestt^ 

Jesus Christ. But they do not know nor pos- 
sess the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet they 
seem to think they have all there is for them. 
They are truly rich and increased with goods, 
and think they have need of nothing more; 
but really as compared with what they may 
have, and do, and be in God's sight, they are 
wretched, and miserable and poor and blind 
and naked. They give only as much as an 
average of five cents a week for Foreign Mis- 
sions. Hence God counsels them to buy of 
Him gold tried in the fire that they may be 
rich, and white raiment that they may be 
clothed, and anoint their eyes with eye salve 
that they may see even unto the uttermost 
parts of the earth and become saviours of lost 
humanity. Thus the great body of the church 
to-day is tarrying either at Gilgal, or Bethel, 
or Jericho, instead of going unto the ends of 
the earth with Jesus Christ. 

One has said: "That the church is shirk- 
ing its responsibility in regard to the world's 
salvation and seeking to excuse itself from it, 
no one who understands the facts can deny. 
'How long will it take, at the present pace, 
for the evangelization of Japan and its conver- 
sion to Christianity?' was asked recently of a 
39 



XTbe Ikes to tbe UUngfcom 

returned missionary. 'Twenty millenniums will 
be a small allowance,' was the reply. 'What, 
at the present pace, is the prospect of the 
conversion of Islam to Christianity ?' was lately 
asked. 'About the same as that of the com- 
pletion of the Interstellar railway from the 
earth to Mars.' " The church is tarrying. 

But Elisha listened to the counsel of God 
and said to Elijah, "As Jehovah liveth and as 
my soul liveth I will not leave thee." And they 
two went on, and came and stood by the Jor- 
dan. 

Jordan means "descending," "going down." 
The river Jordan divided the home land from 
the great Gentile world. Jesus Christ says: 
"Except a man deny himself and take up his 
cross and follow me, he cannot be my disciple. 
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground 
and die, it abideth alone, but if it die, it bring- 
eth forth much fruit. No man leaveth father 
or mother or home or lands for my sake and 
the Gospel's but shall receive a hundredfold 
now in this life and in the world to come eter- 
nal life." There must be a going down be- 
fore there can be a going up. There must be 
a giving up before there can be a taking up. 
Hence Paul says, "Let this mind be in you, 
40 



®pcm tbe Boor to tbe IRtng's IDestrs 

which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being 
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to 
})e equal with God: but made himself of no 
reputation, and took upon him the form of a 
servant, and was made in the likeness of men : 
and being found in fashion as a man, he hum- 
bled himself, and became obedient unto death, 
even the death of' the cross. Wherefore God 
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a 
name which is above every name: that at the 
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of 
things in heaven, and things in earth, and 
things under the earth ; and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to 
the glory of God the Father." 

Here is where large numbers even of our so- 
called aggressive Christians stop. They come 
to Jordan's bank and then stand still. Per- 
haps they have volunteered to go out as for- 
eign missionaries, but there is not money in 
the treasury. They consider that as an unsur- 
mountable obstacle and stay at home. Perhaps 
they meet in great Christian missionary con- 
ventions where they talk much of the power 
and influence of the Holy Ghost, and study 
the awful ravages which sin and Satan are 
making upon the world. Then like the fifty 
41 



Ubc f*es to tbe Ikfnafcom 

men of the sons of the prophets, they organize 
a retreat, and go and stand afar off to see what 
God will do, praying for the filling and out- 
pouring of the Spirit. I speak kindly when I 
say that much of this so-called praying for 
the power of God and the Holy Ghost, which 
we hear in our churches, is a farce before 
high heaven. It is so because the petitioners 
are unwilling to obey the conditions laid down 
in the Word of God. God speaks back to the 
people as He did to Moses facing the Red 
Sea, "What are you crying unto me about? 
Have not I told you what to do? Speak to 
the Children of Israel and go forward; then 
I will accompany you with My Almighty 
power, but not until then." Moses had said 
to the people, "Stand still and see the salva- 
tion of the Lord. God shall fight for you and 
ye shall hold your peace." But God said, No, 
that is not according to my command. "Speak 
to the Children of Israel that they go forward. 
Then will My power be manifested." In spite 
of all the talk and so-called praying for the 
Spirit, which we hear in our churches, the 
Spirit does not manifest His presence in any 
large measure. Sometimes these people work 
themselves up into a frenzy, and begin to 
42 



©pens tbe E>oor to tbe IRing's Destrg 

shout, "Hallelujah," "Praise the Lord," until 
they burst a blood vessel and expire, but so far 
as the power of God resting upon them is con- 
cerned, there is no evidence of it. The gates 
of hell stand just as firm and prevail against 
the church just as successfully as before. There 
is no more entrance into the King's place of 
power on the part of these people, than there 
was an entrance into the place of power on 
the part of the prophets of Baal in the time 
of Elijah. If old Elijah were here, I believe 
he would mock these people as he did those of 
his own time, saying : "Cry aloud ! for he is a 
God, — either he is talking, or he is pursuing, 
or he is on a journey or peradventure he 
sleepeth and must be awaked." He would have 
better ground for doing so than of old. Why ? 
Because these people are not dealing honestly 
with God. They are not willing to obey God, 
to meet the conditions upon which God has 
promised the Holy Spirit. God says, "Go into 
all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature, and I who have all power in heaven 
and in earth will be with you." But these peo- 
ple instead of going into all the world, stay 
at home in person and purse. Every little 
while they get together and begin seemingly to 
43 



XTbe Ikes to tbe Ifctna&om 

bewail the hampered condition of the church, 
and the certain ruin that Satan's army is bring- 
ing upon the human race, and then begin to 
cry, "Oh Lord send the Holy Spirit, send the 
Holy Spirit!" If one were to step into their 
midst and say: "Jesus Christ says, You may 
be filled with the Holy Spirit if you will prac- 
tically place yourselves, your power, and pos- 
sessions, and your all upon the altar for the 
extension of the Kingdom of God, and resolve 
to go and give, with all that you are and have, 
to preach the Gospel to every creature. Will 
you do it?" Ninety-nine out of one hundred 
would say, "No; we do not want the Holy 
Spirit on those terms." Such is the practice 
of Christians today. One thing is lacking: 
they are not willing to pay the price of obedi- 
ence to Christ's last command. They pay more 
for chewing gum than they do for the salva- 
tion of two-thirds of the human race. 

Did Elisha leave Elijah at the Jordan? No. 
He went over with him. We read : "And Eli- 
jah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, 
and smote the waters, and they were divided 
hither and thither, so that they two went over 
on dry ground. And it came to pass when 
they were gone over, that Elijah said unto 
44 



©pens tbe 2>oor to tbe "King's IDestrs 

Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I 
am taken away from thee." 

Elisha is now coming into the place of privi- 
lege. He has left all to follow Elijah — God's 
representative. He is coming now before the 
throne where he may prevail with God in 
prayer. He is coming where we saw Esther 
and Moses and Abraham and Knox and Liv- 
ingstone; where he may ask and receive an 
answer. What will he ask? Listen: "And 
Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion 
of thy spirit be upon me." And Elijah said: 
"Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, 
if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it 
shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not 
be so." 

He has not yet quite fulfilled the condition. 
He has not yet practically surrendered all. He 
has done so theoretically. But there is a differ- 
ence between theorizing and practicing, be- 
tween saying and doing. Elisha must go with 
old Elijah to the end, and be willing to see him, 
his father and friend, taken from him. Will 
he fulfill the condition that he may be clothed 
upon with power from on high — the investiture 
of the Holy Spirit ? Read : "And it came to 
pass, as they still went on, . that be- 

45 



Ubc Ikev to tbe ftfngDom 

hold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and 
horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, 
and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into 
heaven. And EHsha saw it, and he cried, My 
father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and 
the horsemen thereof !" He has met the con- 
dition. Will God fulfill His promise to him? 
Is he invested with power? 

We read : "And he saw him no more : and 
he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them 
in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of 
Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and 
stood by the bank of Jordan ; and he took the 
mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote 
the waters, and said, where is the Lord God of 
Elijah? And when he also had smitten the 
waters, they parted hither and thither; and 
Elisha went over. And when the sons of the 
prophets which were to view at Jericho saw 
him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest 
on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and 
bowed themselves to the ground before him." 

Do we want to be clothed with power from 
on high ? Then we must go with Christ unto 
the uttermost part of the earth to preach His 
Gospel unto every creature. 

But some one may say, "No ; we must tarry 
46 



©pens tbe Door to tbe Ikin&s tDestrs 

in Jerusalem until we be endued with power 
from on high, then we cannot help but go into 
all the world and preach the Gospel. But we 
must not go until He comes upon us." That re- 
minds me of what that old preacher said to 
Carey when he was urging the church to for- 
eign missionary enterprises : "Sit down young 
man, sit down ! When God gets ready to con- 
vert the heathen, He will do it without your 
help or mine either." I tell you my friends, 
"Go" does not mean stay. To refuse to go 
means to refuse the power promised on the 
condition of going. Now I admit that when 
the Holy Spirit comes upon a person, he is 
then qualified to preach the Gospel and not be- 
fore. But I affirm that the Holy Spirit will 
come upon a person in mighty power, when he 
is willing, practically, in his own life to carry 
out the Great Commission, and not before ; and 
I deny that the fact that the disciples remained 
ten days in Jerusalem before the Holy Ghost 
was poured out upon them, is a proof, or even 
an argument that either they or the church 
of Jesus Christ today, or any day, should 
hesitate a single hour to do all within their 
power to go, and give, and preach the Gospel to 
every creature before it is everlastingly too late. 
47 



XTbe IKes to tbe IRtnafcom 

Just why ten days elapsed before the early 
disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, has 
been a matter of speculation on the part of 
some. But undoubtedly, Christ asked them to 
remain there until they were ready to meet His 
condition of receiving the Holy Spirit, which 
was a willingness to carry out his command to 
be witnesses for Him among all people in Jeru- 
salem and Judea and Samaria and unto the 
uttermost part of the earth. 

2. This is also according to reason and the 
nature of the case. 

The great work of the Holy Ghost in the 
world, is that of bearing witness to Christ in 
some form that men may be saved. The great 
work of the church and of Christ's disciples 
in the world is the same. Now can we 
imagine that the King of heaven would with- 
hold His power, the Holy Spirit, from His 
loyal representatives upon earth for a single 
moment after they decided to obey His clearest 
command and go forth and bear testimony for 
Him in the world to save those for whom He 
gave His own life? 

But we can very easily imagine Peter, James, 
and John, and all of the other disciples, 
after Christ's ascension, scattering hither and 
48 



©pens tbe Boor to tbe IRing's Destrs 

thither, the one to his net, the other to his 
home, the other to his worldly profession or 
merchandise, without any consecrated and de- 
termined purpose to obey Christ's command, 
with sealed lips about Jesus Christ, so far as 
propagating the faith in the world is con- 
cerned. They needed to meditate together 
upon their duty and work until they resolved 
to do it. To obey the command, to preach the 
Gospel to every creature, beginning in hostile 
Jerusalem, reaching to hateo) Samaria, ex- 
tending to unclean Gentiles, was the hardest 
command and severest test Christ laid upon 
His disciples. It called for genuine, heroic 
self-denial and consecration. This the disciples 
at first lacked. Hence it is not to be wondered 
at that Christ said unto them, Tarry in Jeru- 
salem until you receive this Spirit of Mine; i. 
e., until you are ready and willing to go and 
do this work for me at any personal sacrifice. 
Tarry in Jerusalem, stay together, meditate 
over this matter of becoming My witnesses 
until you find yourselves ready and willing to 
make the necessary consecration of yourselves 
to the Lord for this work. Then you shall 
receive the power of the Holy Ghost. And that 
this was the burden of their thoughts, the first 
d 49 



Ube ftes to tbe Iktnabom 

chapter of the Acts shows. It gives us the 
Resolutions of the Apostles. The disciples were 
few and fearful : hence Peter at once said, "We 
must have another witness to take the place of 
Judas. One must be ordained to be a witness 
with us of His resurrection." They did not 
doubt that the work had been laid upon them 
but they were not quite ready to assume it for 
themselves. They retire to an upper room 
where they secrete themselves from the Jews 
and talk and pray over these matters until they 
find themselves resolved on this work given 
them by the Master, and are ready to do it at 
whatever cost. Then when they are fully 
agreed and determined to obey, when they are 
all of this one accord in one place, and not 
before, suddenly there comes a sound of a 
rushing mighty wind, and fills all the place 
where they are sitting : — they are all filled with 
the Holy Ghost and clothed with power from 
on high, and begin to speak in other tongues 
of the wonderful works of God. It was the 
time of their complete consecration to this 
work! 

Whenever Christ's disciples are willing to 
obey this command of Christ, and deliberately 
surrender themselves to this work, at once the 
50 



Qpcns tbe 2>oor to tbe mw's IDestrs 

power of God, the Holy Spirit, will manifest 
His presence. It is false to sing as some do : 

" My all is on the altar 
I'm waiting for the fire." 

When our all gets on the altar the fire comes 
without any waiting. 

If there is any tarrying in Jerusalem these 
days, it should be for the purpose of facing 
the great world work which Christ has left 
us to perform, and to ask ourselves, are we 
willing to leave all, deny self, take up the cross 
and follow Christ? to put everything we have 
and are upon the altar for the salvation of a 
lost world ? When we say, "Yes, Lord ;" and 
mean it, then suddenly, without further cere- 
mony or performance, the power of the Holy 
Ghost will rest upon us. 

J. Hudson Taylor tells us that some years 
ago he heard Christ say to him, "I am going 
to evangelize inland China, and if you will go 
with me I will do it through you." And he 
said, "Lord here am I, I want to go and will 
go." I do not need to record how the power 
of God has rested upon that man and that mis- 
sion from that day until this. But what Christ 
51 



TTbe Ikes to tbe uangbom 

said to Hudson Taylor, He is saying to the 
church, "I am going to evangelize this world, 
and if you will go with me, I will do it through 
you." And if the Church of Jesus Christ 
would only say, "Lord, here am I; I want to 
go ; I will go ;" and get up and go, the power 
of the Holy Ghost would at once rest upon the 
church in such a measure as to make her ir- 
resistible; for Christ, who said, I have all 
power in heaven and earth, said, "Go, and I 
am with you." Then the Kingdom of God 
would come. 

How we ought all earnestly to covet this 
greatest and best gift ! The cry of the heathen 
for help from us is God's call to us to receive 
help from Him. Kate Douglas Wiggins has 
written a little book entitled, "Timothy's 
Quest." The reading of that book might prej- 
udice the mind of the careless reader against 
Foreign Missions. But whether the author 
intended to do so or not, she has portrayed 
the beautiful garment of power and blessing 
with which the Holy Ghost clothes every one 
who possesses the genuine missionary spirit, 
which binds home and foreign missions to- 
gether in holiest harmony in its endeavor to 
preach the Gospel to every creature. 
52 



Ovens tbe Door to tbe IKing's IDestrs 

She tells us how in the orchard garden of a 
wealthy woman there is a grave with a slab 
of marble laid upon it. On the slab are these 
words, "Martha, aged 17." Martha was the 
sister of this wealthy woman. She had died 
twenty years before. She was a beautiful girl 
and had been the greatest pride and the great- 
est sorrow of the family. After Martha her 
sister had gone wrong all the sweetness of this 
wealthy woman's nature had turned to bitter- 
ness and gall. Martha came home to die, but 
her sister did not have the grace nor the 
strength to forgive her until it was too late. 
Instead of burying her in the family cemetery 
where father and mother lay, Martha was laid 
to rest "in the orchard, under the kindly, un- 
theological shade of the apple trees." For 
twenty years this remaining sister lived a sel- 
fish life with only a servant for a companion. 
One day there came to her door two little 
orphan children from the slums of the great 
city. She called them heathen. The woman 
protested, but allowed them to stay over night. 
That night this woman had a vision. "She 
seemed to be walking through peaceful mead- 
ows, brown with autumn, when all at once 
there rose in the path steep hills and rocky 
53 



Hbe 1key> to tbe Ikingbom 

mountains . . . She felt too tired and 
too old to climb, but there was nothing else to 
be done. . . . And just as she began the 
toilsome ascent, a little child appeared, and 
catching her helplessly by the skirts implored 
to be taken with her. . . . And she re- 
fused and went on alone . . . but, 
miracle of miracles, when she reached the crest 
of the hill the child was there before her, still 
beseeching to be carried. . . . And again 
she refused, and again she wearily climbed the 
heights alone, always meeting the child when 
she reached their summits, and always enact- 
ing the same scene. ... At last she 
cried in despair, 'Ask me no more, for I have 
not even strength enough for my own needs !' 

. And the child said, 'I will help you ;' 
and straightway crept into her arms and 
nestled there as one who would not be denied, 

. and she took up her burden and 
walked. . . . And as she climbed, the 
weight grew lighter and lighter, till at length 
the clinging arms seemed to give her peace 
and strength. . . . And when she neared 
the crest of the highest mountain she felt new 
life throbbing in her veins and new hopes stir- 
ring in her heart, and she remembered no more 
54 



©pens tbe Door to tbe Mwq's Destrp 

the pain and weariness of her journey. . . . 
And all at once a bright angel appeared to her 
and traced the letters of a word upon her fore- 
head and took the child from her arms and dis- 
appeared. . . . And the angel had the 
lovely smile and sad eyes of her dead sister 
Martha. . . . And the word she traced 
on her forehead was 'Inasmuch !' " 

No wonder this woman prayed later : "The 
Lord forgive me for being a hard hearted old 
woman, and give me a chance to make it right. 
I have scrimped and saved to lay up money 
till it comes hard to pay it out . . . yet 
I have got $10,000 in the bank and the best 
farm for miles around." 

These two children, — she was wont to call 
them heathen, — were adopted into her family. 
Then the old farm brought forth new fruits of 
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, 
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, and the 
marble slab out in the orchard under the apple 
tree, upon which was carved, "Martha, aged 
17" was often covered with beautiful flowers 
from loving hands. "A love of all things 
seemed to have crept into the hearts of all, as 
if some beneficent fairy of a spider were spin- 
ning a web of tenderness all about the house, 
55 



Ube Ifces to tbe ikfrtG^om 

or as if a soft light had dawned in the midst 
of great darkness and was gradually brighten- 
ing into the perfect day." 



56 



©pens tbe ftfna's Council Cbamber 



CHAPTER III. 

THE KEY OPENS THE DOOR TO THE KING'S 
COUNCIL CHAMBER. 

The proposition which we will consider in 
this Chapter is, Obedience to the Great Com- 
mission is the key that opens the door into the 
council chamber of the King of Heaven and 
secures an understanding of the Word of God. 

The case stated briefly is this : unless we are 
able to know and interpret the Word of God 
we cannot teach mankind God's will and thus 
establish the Kingdom of God on earth. But 
we cannot, we will not be able to understand 
God's Word unless we are willing to obey the 
Great Commission. Then we can and then we 
will understand and teach it. 

Our illustration is that of Daniel and his 
three friends. Daniel knew that they could not 
enter into the secret wisdom of the King of 
heaven unless they were loyal to that King 
among the heathen nations of the earth. But 
then they could and then they would enter 
57 



TTbe ftes to tbc mingfcom 

into the council chamber of this King. It is 
the same with us today. 

i. That this is true, God's written word 
plainly teaches. The Great Commission itself 
is authority here. Christ says, "All power is 
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye 
therefore and disciple all nations, teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you, and Lo I am with you." That 
means that Jesus Christ, who is the truth, the 
very word and wisdom of God, the teacher 
come from God, promises to be with His peo- 
ple and lead them into all truth that they may 
teach others also, when they are willing to go 
into all the world and preach the Gospel to 
every creature. 

(i.) If the Kingdom of God is ever to 
come in this earth the people ot the earth must 
be taught the truth. Christ says, "Ye shall 
know the truth and the truth shall make you 
free." But two-thirds of the human race sit 
in darkness and ignorance today. How shall 
this great mass of ignorance and superstition 
be removed, that these people may be brought 
into the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of 
God be established in the earth ? 

a. It will never be done until the church of 
58 



®$en8 tbe King's Council Cbambet 

Jesus Christ applies the Key of Obedience to 
the great commission: "Make disciples of all 
nations, teaching them." None other but 
Christ's disciples ever have done this work ; no 
one but the disciples of Christ ever will do it. 
Douglas McKenzie well says: "The mission- 
ary societies are literally the greatest educa- 
tional institutions in the world." And how 
comes it that only the church of Jesus Christ 
can and will do this? Because the church of 
Jesus Christ alone, has the truth to teach, — 
viz., the very word and revelation of God. To 
the church has been committed the oracles of 
God. Christ says, "I am the Way, the Truth, 
and the Life ; no man cometh unto the Father 
but by Me; the words that I speak unto you 
they are spirit and they are life." "In the 
volume of the Book it is written of me." 
"Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye 
have eternal life and they are they which testify 
of me." 

b. This book then, the truth, the Word of 
God, the Bible, must be given intelligently to 
all people or they cannot be saved and brought 
into the Kingdom of God. This is true be- 
cause, (a) The Bible alone contains the his- 
torical facts of the true faith, (b) The Bible 
59 



XTbe ftes to tbe fting&om 

is a collection of books possessing the highest 
educational value in and of themselves, (c) 
The Bible gives to man a wider view of the 
world than all other books, (d) The Bible 
alone furnishes a true philosophy of life and 
the Kingdom of God. (e) The Bible alone 
furnishes man a vision of Jesus Christ, the 
Saviour and King. 

(2.) But until Christians are ready to obey 
the Great Commission, the Bible is really a 
closed and sealed book both to the church and 
the world. For no one can be found worthy 
to open the Book or to have the Book opened 
to him who is not willing to obey the voice 
of the Son of God, whose teachings and com- 
mandments are the contents of the Book. God 
says, the secrets of the Lord are with them 
that fear Him. If any man will do His will 
he shall know the doctrine. 

"When thou read'st what here is writ 
Let thy best practice second it. 
So twice each precept read shall be 
First in the Book and next in thee." 

"A lady once said: 'I cannot enjoy the 
Bible. It is very dull and uninteresting to me.' 
'Read,' was the answer, 'until you come to the 
60 



©pens tbe Vttn&e Council Cbamber 

first command, then go and obey that com- 
mand. Afterwards, read on until you come to 
another command, obey that, and keep on obey- 
ing.' Shortly after this admonition the lady 
returned smiling and said: 'I have done what 
you said and the Bible is a new book to me.' ' ; 

Obedience to the Great Commission is the 
key that unlocks the Book of books, and sets 
the church to studying and teaching its life- 
giving truths. When Christ commanded His 
disciples to be his witnesses among all nations, 
we are told, "Then opened he their understand- 
ing that they might understand the script- 
ures." 

Look at our illustration. Daniel was a cap- 
tive among a heathen and idolatrous people. 
But he purposed in his heart that he would not 
defile himself, i. e., that he would be absolutely 
loyal to God, that he would give an honest and 
faithful witness in the midst of an idolatrous 
and corrupt court and country. This was no 
easy thing for him to do. We read: "The 
presidents and princes sought to find occasion 
against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but 
they could find none occasion nor fault ; foras- 
much as he was faithful, neither was there any 
error or fault found in him. Then said these 
61 



XTbe lies to tbe *fcfnG&om 

men, We shall not find any occasion against 
this Daniel, except we find it against him con- 
cerning the law of his God." Then they estab- 
lished a law that whosoever shall ask a petition 
of any God or man for thirty days, save of 
King Darius shall be cast to the lions. How 
did this affect Daniel? We read: "Now 
when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, 
he went into his house ; and, his windows being 
open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he 
kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and 
prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he 
did aforetime. Then these men assembled, and 
found Daniel praying, and making supplication 
before his God." The fact is that while Daniel 
was a captive he was in truth a minister pleni- 
potentiary from the Kingdom of God to a For- 
eign court. He was as true a foreign mission- 
ary as ever landed among heathen people, not 
only in name but in spirit. He sought first 
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. 
Hear him pray : "Now therefore, O our God, 
hear the prayer of thy servant, and his suppli- 
cations, and cause thy face to shine upon thy 
sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open 
thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the 
62 



©pens tbe Kim's Council Cbambet 

city which is called by thy name; for we do 
not present our supplications before thee for 
our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. 
O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, 
hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, 
O my God: for thy city and thy people are 
called by thy name." He was an ambassador 
from the court of heaven representing the 
Kingdom of God on earth. Just because this 
was true, God admitted him to the secret coun- 
cil of the Kingdom of God, and gave him pre- 
cedence over all the wise men of the Kingdom 
of Babylon. We read of Daniel and his three 
friends who were faithful with him: "And 
the king communed with them; and among 
them all was found none like Daniel, Hana- 
niah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood 
they before the king. And in all matters of 
wisdom and understanding, that the king in- 
quired of them, he found them ten times better 
than all the magicians and astrologers that 
were in all his realm." 

That is manifested many times in a very 
marvelous manner. Take an incident: King 
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream, and the 
dream went from him. "Then the king com- 
manded to call the magicians, and the astrolo- 
63 



XTbe lies to tbe 1fcinG&om 

gers, and sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to 
shew the king his dream. So they came and 
stood before the king. . . . But the 
Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, 
There is not a man upon the earth that can 
shew the king's matter. For this cause the 
king was angry and very furious, and com- 
manded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 
And the decree went forth that the wise men 
should be slain; and they sought Daniel and 
his fellows to be slain. . . . Then Dan- 
iel went in, and desired of the king that he 
would give him time, and that he would shew 
the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went 
to his house, and made the thing known to 
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his com- 
panions : that they would desire mercies of the 
God of heaven concerning this secret. Then 
was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night 
vision. . . . Therefore Daniel went in 
unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to 
destroy the wise men of Babylon : he went and 
said thus unto him, Destroy not the wise men 
of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and 
I will shew unto the king the interpretation." 
This secret was not some little trivial per- 
sonal matter that King Nebuchadnezzar was 
64 



Opens tbe Kim's Council Cbamber 

interested in, nor did it simply pertain to the 
Babylonian Kingdom; but it pertained to the 
affairs of the Kingdom of God for all time. 
Daniel at this time, was given a revelation from 
God, of a most astounding and marvellous 
nature. The King of heaven admitted him to 
His secret council chamber and disclosed to 
him and through him to us and all mankind 
the rise and fall not only of kings and king- 
doms of this world, but assured him that the 
Kingdom of God should come, never to pass 
away. Read some of His words that you may 
judge for yourself if these are not wonderful 
things to be known and uttered hundreds of 
years before Christ : 

"And in the days of those kings shall the 
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall 
never be destroyed : and the kingdom shall not 
be left to other people, but it shall break in 
pieces and consume all kingdoms, and it shall 
stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that 
a stone was cut out of the mountain without 
hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the 
brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; and 
became a great mountain and filled the whole 
earth ; the great God hath made known to the 
king what shall come to pass hereafter: and 
e 65 



Ube ftes to tbe mtngbom 

the dream is certain, and the interpretation 
thereof sure." 

Daniel tells us also: "I saw in the night 
visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man 
came with the clouds of heaven, and came to 
the Ancient of days, and they brought him near 
before him. And there was given him domin- 
ion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
nations, and languages, should serve him : his 
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
shall not pass away, and his kingdom that 
which shall not be destroyed." 

It was Daniel who interpreted the handwrit- 
ing of God upon the wall of the King's palace. 
When King Belshazzar saw it, "The king cried 
aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chal- 
deans, and the soothsayers. . . . Then 
came in all the king's wise men : but they could 
not read the writing nor make known to the 
king the interpretation thereof. . 
Then was Daniel brought in before the king. 
And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art 
thou Daniel, which art of the children of the 
captivity of Judah, whom the king my father 
brought out of Jewry? I have even heard of 
thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, 
and that light and understanding and excellent 
66 



©pens tbe IkinG's Council Cbamber 

wisdom is found in thee. . . . Now if 
thou canst read the writing, and make known 
to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be 
clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold 
about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in 
the kingdom. Then Daniel answered and said 
before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and 
give thy rewards to another ; yet I will read the 
writing unto the king, and make known to him 
the interpretation." 

It was Daniel who understood from God's 
Word the time of the captivity of the Children 
of Israel in Babylon and their restoration to 
their own land. He says : "In the first year 
of the reign of Darius, I Daniel understood by 
books the number of the years, whereof the 
word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the 
prophet; that he would accomplish seventy 
years in the desolations of Jerusalem." 

It was to Daniel that was given that wonder- 
ful phophecy concerning the exact time of the 
coming of the Messiah: "Seventy weeks are 
determined upon thy people and upon thy holy 
city, to finish the transgression, and to make 
an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for 
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteous- 
ness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, 
67 



Ube IKes to tbe mtnabom 

and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore 
and understand, that from the going forth of 
the commandment to restore and to build Jeru- 
salem, unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be 
seven weeks, and three score and two weeks." 
Thus obedience to the Great Commission is the 
key that opens into the council chamber of the 
King of heaven. 

2. It has always been so. Who was so 
great a missionary as Paul? Who has entered 
into an understanding of God's Word so 
largely as Paul ? As long as the church was 
disobedient to the Heavenly vision and the 
Great Commission, so long the Bible, God's 
Word, was closed, sealed, and chained, and 
the world was wrapped in darkness, supersti- 
tion, and ignorance. Witness the state of the 
church and the world during the middle ages. 
But wherever this spirit of obedience has 
taken possession of Christians, there has oc- 
curred a searching of the scriptures on the 
part of Christ's disciples that they might know 
and hence be able to teach those things that 
Christ has commanded them. 

(i.) This is seen in the marvellous man- 
ner in which the Scriptures have been trans- 
lated since the time the spirit of missions has 

68 



©pens tbe IKina's Council Cbamber 

more powerfully taken hold of the church. 
One hundred years ago there existed less than 
fifty translations of the Bible. Today the 
Bible is published in whole or in part in nearly 
four hundred languages and dialects. This is 
all due to the foreign missionary spirit. 

(2.) It is said of Henry Martin, that "His 
devotion to the study of the languages which 
interpret and apply to the races of India, Asia, 
Persia, the books of Christian revelation, was 
so absorbing as to shorten his career." Wm. 
Carey "ceased not night or day if by any 
means with loving catholicity the Word of 
God might be given to the millions." 

Look at the task and zeal of the first mis- 
sionaries to Greenland. They found themselves 
unable to reach the people without the Scrip- 
tures, and they were unable to translate them 
because they were uneducated men, without a 
knowledge of the grammar of their own lan- 
guage. Yet these very men did surmount even 
such frowning mountains of difficulty, by the 
exercise of a humble and patient courage, and 
began to reduce the Esquimaux language to 
writing. Obedience to the great commission 
was the key in their hands which unlocked the 
Scriptures both to them and the heathen. They 
69 



tTbe ftes to tbe IkinQfcom 

and their successors toiled at the work until 
the entire Scriptures were translated. 

Again, "Consider the case of a man like 
Robert Moffat. He went out to South Africa 
with only the most meager and hurried educa- 
tion. He was a man first and last of outward 
activity, who made long journeys, planted and 
cultivated large and beautiful gardens, loved 
in fact the open air, and physical exercise. Yet 
that man persisted for many years in the task 
of translation, studied various versions of the 
Scriptures, spent hours or even days over one 
verse to find the exact shade of meaning and 
put it into an equivalent native idiom. The re- 
sult was that he performed the rare task of 
translating the whole Bible with his own hand, 
completing the New Testament in 1838, and 
the entire book in 1857." 

That is what obedience to the Great Commis- 
sion will do. It sets men to searching and 
studying the Scriptures that they may know 
and teach others also whatsoever Christ has 
commanded. And wherever this Gospel is 
preached there goes a hungering and thirsting 
for the Word of God ; hence, men learn to read 
that they, may search it for themselves. This 
brings to mankind a Christian enlightenment, 
70 



©pens tbe Iking's Council Cbamber 

which means the highest possible civilization, 
— the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. 

" 'Das Gold V is the title of a great picture 
by a German artist, Urban. Satan sits on a 
rock at the base of a mountain, resting his chin 
in the palm of one hand. In the fingers of the 
other hand he holds a glittering piece of gold. 
How the beautiful coin catches and scatters 
the sunbeams ! Crowding toward the 'least 
erected fiend that fell/ struggling, imprecating, 
smiting, tearing, is a mass of human beings. 
The blazing eye, the swollen muscles, the con- 
torted features, all tell of the mighty passions 
within and the tense eagerness of the pursuit. 
Some are lying still beneath the trampling feet, 
their struggles over. On the edge of the 
maelstrom cower wretched women and chil- 
dren. Yonder, in the rear of the picture, is 
the cross of Calvary and the crucified one ; but 
the procession passes by and scarcely deigns a 
hasty glance." 

This is a picture of the Kingdom of this 
world. Gold is its god. Humanity and Christ 
are trampled under foot. If the Kingdom of 
God is to come in to this world, the case 
must be reversed. Gold must be trampled 
under foot, i. e., used to pave the streets of 
71 



ZFbe Tkey to tbe Ikfnabom 

the new Jerusalem, while Christ is crowned 
King, and mankind glorified. How is this to 
be accomplished? We must use our gold to 
preach the Gospel to every creature. Then will 
be opened up a mine of wealth, "more to be 
desired than gold, yea than much fine gold," — 
even the Word of God, which is the true coin 
of the Kingdom; and mankind will be saved, 
"for the law of the Lord is perfect restoring 
the soul" 

"We are told that the very first edition of 
Carey's translation of the New Testament into 
Bengali, imperfect as it was, was not without 
its self -evidencing power. Seventeen years 
after, when the mission extended to the old 
capital of Dacca, there were found several 
villages of Hindoo-born peasants who had 
given up idol-worship. They traced their new 
faith to a much worn book kept in a wooden 
box in one of their villages. No one could 
say whence it had come; all they knew was 
that they had possessed it for many years. It 
was Carey's first Bengali version of the New 
Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 

Or take an instance from another land. "In 
Japan there arose a few years ago a young 
72 



Qpem the ftfna's Council Cbamber 

man, Neesima, who did more for the higher 
education of his fellow countrymen than any 
other. He was the far-sighted and enthusi- 
astic founder of the Doshisha, the pioneer uni- 
versity, if we may use the term, among that 
remarkable and fascinating people. Neesima 
was a man of remarkable Christian experience, 
who throughout his educational labors kept in 
view the evangelization of his country. He 
was born and brought up in a family where he 
had no opportunity to learn aught of the Chris- 
tian religion. At about twenty years of age he 
stumbled on a book in Chinese which consisted 
of extracts from "the Bible. These broken 
pieces of the story of the revelation awoke him. 
He determined to discover more about this 
marvellous, this illuminating literature. It was 
during that dark period when Japan was closed 
to foreigners, and Neesima, seeing no hope of 
light reached Singapore and there finding a 
copy of the Scriptures for sale he actually, and 
against the whole sentiment and tradition of 
his class, sold his sword in order to purchase 
this book. Hearing that from America the 
men had come who knew most about this book, 
he resolved to sail thither. On the voyage he 
read alone and unaided in its pages. At last 
73 



XTbe IReg to tbe IKingbom 

those words which have proved themselves 
light and life to so many of the sons of men 
passed under his scrutiny: 'God so loved the 
world that He gave His only begotten Son, 
that whosoever believeth on Him should not 
perish but have everlasting life.' This verse 
was his golden gate, and Neesima was one 
more added to the innumerable host who, 
through the central message of this book, have 
found a living and personal fellowship with 
the living God." 

Yet all Christendom gave last year for the 
salvation of heathendom less than two copper 
cents for each heathen. Whenever the church 
of Jesus Christ is willing to obey the Great 
Commission, then will be heard on earth a new 
song sung to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who 
having taken the Book out of the right hand 
of Him that sitteth on the throne will open it 
for all mankind. Then they will sing unto 
him : 'Thou art worthy to take the Book and 
to open the seals thereof : for Thou wast slain 
and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out 
of every kindred and tongue and people and 
nation ; and hast made us unto our God kings 
and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." 
Then we shall behold and hear the voice of 
74 



Opens tbe Kings Council Gbamber 

many angels round about the throne and the 
living creatures and the elders; and the num- 
ber of them will be ten thousand times ten 
thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying 
with a loud voice : "Worthy is the Lamb that 
was slain to receive power and riches and wis- 
dom and strength, and honor and glory and 
blessings. And every creature which is in 
heaven and in earth, and such as are in the 
sea, and all that are in them shall we hear say- 
ing, Blessing and honor and glory and power 
be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and 
unto the Lamb forever and ever." God's 
Kingdom Come ! 



75 



Ube mes to tbe Ikfnafcom 
CHAPTER IV. 

THE KEY OPENS THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN. 

The proposition to which I ask attention in 
this chapter is : Obedience to the Great Com- 
mission is the key that opens the windows of 
heaven and secures perennial revival showers 
of religion upon earth. 

The case briefly stated is this: Unless the 
church of Christ enjoys a perennial revival of 
religion, the Kingdom of God cannot be estab- 
lished in the earth. But such a revival of re- 
ligion cannot be secured unless the church will 
obey the command of Christ to preach the Gos- 
pel to every creature. Then it can and then 
it will be secured. 

Our illustration is that of the Church of 
Antioch. The members of the church of An- 
tioch apparently appreciated the fact that they 
could not expect the windows of heaven to be 
opened in a perennial revival blessing unless 
they were willing to undertake to preach the 
Gospel to every creature. But then they might 
76 



©pens tbe TPOiin&ows of heaven 

expect such showers of revival blessing. It is 
just the same today. 

The Scriptures teach this plainly. It is the 
very heart of the Great Commission. Christ 
says : "All power is given unto Me in heaven 
and in earth. Go ye therefore and make dis- 
ciples of all nations, baptizing them into the 
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy 
Ghost, and lo I am with you alway." 

To make disciples of all nations means to 
convert all nations, and to baptize them in the 
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 
means the same thing, i. e. — to make them 
Christians. This means God's Kingdom come. 
What a grand revival of religion that sets be- 
fore the church as her work to accomplish! 
And that is just the kind of a revival that is 
promised and commanded, and promised and 
commanded from generation to generation, as 
a permanent condition; for Christ says, "Lo, 
I, who have all power in heaven and in earth, 
am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
age !" But all this is promised upon the con- 
dition that the church and Christians obey the 
Great Commission, viz., to preach the Gospel 
to every creature. 

I. In the first place for any church to obey 
77 



Ubc Ites to tbe IKing&om 

the Great Commission secures a revival of re- 
ligion that brings into the Kingdom of God 
hosts of converted men and women as citizens 
of the Kingdom; and such a revival is not a 
spasmodic, sporadic affair, but a permanent 
condition of the church. 

( i.) If there is one thing the church needs 
today, it is to have the Lord Jesus Christ 
manifest His presence in a sweeping revival 
of religion, with mighty converting power over 
the hearts of the multitudes. But that one 
thing is sadly lacking; it seems impossible to 
effect. Year after year churches get together 
all over the land and create and organize vast 
machinery for promoting great revivals of re- 
ligion, and yet these revivals do not come, and 
the multitudes mock at the vain performances 
of the churches and despise their claims of 
superior power. What is the cause of this 
dearth and weakness? It is none other than 
the fact that the church refuses to meet 
Christ's conditions securing the conversion of 
the multitudes, viz., the preaching of the Gos- 
pel to every creature. Christ says, As Moses 
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so 
must the Son of man be lifted up that whoso- 
ever believeth on Him might not perish but 

78 



©pens tbe TKHin&ows of Deaven 

have everlasting life. And I, if I be lifted up, 
will draw all men unto Me. 

(2.) This is not only clear from Scripture, 
but it is clear from the nature of the case. Not 
until a church has the burden of the world's 
salvation upon her heart will she pray and 
work truly in the very Spirit of Christ for the 
salvation of a community. Not until she is 
solicitous to have the Gospel preached to every 
creature will she be truly solicitous to have the 
Gospel preached to any creature. 

But when the church gets the burden of the 
lost world upon her heart and begins to work 
and pray for the salvation of every creature, 
then it is she gets the local community on her 
heart and begins to work and pray for the sal- 
vation of any and every creature in that com- 
munity. Then her members go out and preach 
the Gospel and practice the Gospel to rich and 
poor, to scarlet sinner and to whitened hypo- 
crite, and keep it up through the summer's 
heat and winter's cold: thereupon comes a 
mighty revival of religion and souls pour into 
the kingdom of God as doves to their windows. 

The church at Antioch was a Gentile church. 
By this I mean, it was composed largely of 
Gentile members. But those members were 
79 



Zbc mes to tbe IKinsfcom 

not in any sense respecters of persons. They 
made no difference between Jew and Gentile, 
Greek and barbarian, Scythian, bond or free. 
We read, "Now there were in the church that 
was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers ; 
as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called 
Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, 
which had been brought up with Herod the 
tetrarch, and Saul." It is thought by some 
that "Simeon, that was called Niger," was a 
black man. It would not have been strange if 
this were so in that church. The great differ- 
ence between this church and the Jerusalem 
church was, the Jerusalem church was a re- 
specter of persons in a high degree. It was 
always narrow, and prejudiced and Jewish in 
its policy. Even Peter who was spokesman on 
the day of Pentecost, found great difficulty in 
being able practically to say, "God is no re- 
specter of persons," although he did say this 
with his lips and perceived that this was true 
with his mind. 

"But when Peter was come to Antioch," says 
Paul, "I withstood him to the face, because he 
was to be blamed. For before that certain 
came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles : 
but when they were come, he withdrew and 
80 



©pens tbe TKHtnfcows of toeaven 

separated himself, fearing them which were of 
the circumcision. And the other Jews dis- 
sembled likewise with him, insomuch that Bar- 
nabas also was carried away with their dis- 
simulation." 

There is no doubt but that Peter and those 
early Jerusalem disciples consecrated them- 
selves to obedience to the Great Commission 
and to the great world-work, on the day of 
Pentecost. This is seen in the readiness with 
which Philip preached to the Ethiopian 
eunuch. It is also evidenced by Peter's vision 
in which when he was asleep he protested, ac- 
cording to his old Jewish prejudices, against 
doing that which his surrendered will to the 
Spirit's direction required him to do when 
awake, viz., To go in to Cornelius and his fam- 
ily, men who were uncircumcised, and eat with 
them and preach the Gospel to them. Yet he 
did this because he had surrendered to Christ 
and promised obedience, receiving the Holy 
Spirit as a result. (Acts v : 32.) But for doing 
this he was called to account by the church at 
Jerusalem, who, to be sure, 'When they heard 
what Peter had to say about it, held their peace, 
and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also 
to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 
* 81 



Ubc ftes to tbe fangfcom 

Yet the church at Jerusalem never practically 
broke over its prejudices to the extent of be- 
coming a missionary church in the full mean- 
ing of that word. She criticised Peter and 
opposed Paul, even to the uttermost part of the 
earth. Hence she lost not only her primacy 
but her very existence as a church. 

But Antioch was faithful just where the 
Jerusalem church failed. It has been truly said 
that the world owes to Antioch two most im- 
portant gifts: the Christian name and Chris- 
tian missions. These two go together. The 
disciples were not only first called Christians 
in Antioch, but they were Christian because 
they so loved God that they undertook to give 
the world to His only begotten Son that who- 
soever believeth on Him might not perish but 
have everlasting life. They were Christian 
because they were missionary. From this 
church proceeded Paul and Barnabas on their 
first missionary journey, and thither they re- 
turned. And when they were come, and had 
gathered the church together, they rehearsed 
all things that God had done with them, and 
that He had opened a door of faith unto the 
Gentiles. Their second tour began there like- 
wise, and a second time Paul returned to this 
82 



©pens tbe TKMn&ows of 1bea\>en 

church to report his work. His third great 
missionary journey also began from this 
church. Thus although Paul and Barnabas 
had been mightily used of God in organizing 
and building up this church, the members of 
the church so loved their Saviour and the 
world He died to save that they gave Paul and 
Barnabas to the world; i. e., sent them forth, 
supporting them, that they might carry the 
Gospel for them to all mankind. For this God 
greatly blessed them with showers of a per- 
petual revival. 

After the fall of Jerusalem, the Antiochian 
church took the lead in Asia and ranked with 
that of Rome and others as the seat of a 
patriarch. Three hundred years after Paul's 
time the church under that marvellous preacher 
Chrysostum, so flourished that 100,000 people, 
half of the population of Antioch, professed 
the true faith. Ten great church councils were 
held there. This is what comes to a church 
when obedient to the great commission. 

Look at that wonderful work of grace on 
the local field of the Hermannsburg church. 
The record says: "While they were so dili- 
gently engaged in sending the Gospel to the 
heathen, the windows of heaven opened, and 
83 



Ube IReg to tbe minabom 

showers of blessing descended upon the work 
at home. During the whole period of Louis 
Harms pastorate, there was an uninterrupted 
revival in Hermannsburg parish, in which it is 
said, 10,000 souls were brought to a knowledge 
of the truth. Prof. Parks who spent three 
weeks with pastor Harms in 1865 says, 'I sup- 
posed for a time that the parish was then in a 
special religious excitement, and asked : "How 
long has this excitement continued?" "About 
17 years," was the reply. "Ever since Pastor 
Harms came among us." "Are there not some 
unbelievers in the parish ?" I asked. "There is 
one, but only one," was his reply/ " 

2. But, in the second place, obedience to the 
Great Commission secures a revival of religion 
that brings into the Kingdom of God not only 
multitudes of souls but vast sums of money 
needed for the extension of the Kingdom. It 
converts the pocket-book as well as the heart. 

The church is rich and growing richer. Dur- 
ing the past fifty years, the people of the 
United States have created and accumulated 
fifty thousand million dollars. They are now 
amassing wealth at the rate of $7,000,000 a 
day. This wealth is God's entrusted to man, 
and great sums of it are in the hands of God's 
84 



©pens tbe TKMnfcows of Deaven 

own people. Yet the Kingdom of God is suf- 
fering for want of funds. Why is this? It 
is because God's people, that are called by His 
name, do not believe in and obey the Great 
Commission; and this is true because the 
preachers and leaders of the people do not set 
it before them as a command to be literally 
obeyed. But until they do, the vast sums of 
money needed to extend the Kingdom of God 
will not be forthcoming. It is not to be won- 
dered at that people, even professing Chris- 
tian people, should not give their money more 
largely than they do, under the circumstances : 
there is no adequate occasion for large self-de- 
nial giving unless the work outlined by Christ 
in the Great Commission is set before the 
church. Suppose you go before the churches 
and say we want money from you to endow 
and establish colleges. They look up and ask, 
"What ! more colleges ? Have we not enough 
colleges and academies and schools and semi- 
naries in this country sufficient to supply every 
demand? Our land is full of them. What 
occasion is there for more colleges ?" For ex- 
ample: Rev. Magee Pratt, speaking of the 
Congregational connection, says: "There are 
seven seminaries to provide ministers for a 
85 



ttbe !*es to tbe ftfng&om 

church that employs only about 3,500 all told, 
with a death rate of about twenty a year. The 
seminaries turn out annually about one hun- 
dred and twenty students from the senior 
classes, and nearly as many specials. What 
can be the result but an over supply, with all 
its horrors of starvation and waste of life ?" 

If money comes, it comes only sparingly and 
in small quantities, because any man of sense 
can see quickly that only extravagance would 
dictate the expenditure of large sums of money 
in the matter of further educational advantages 
for this country alone. I do not mean to say 
that there is not occasion to increase our edu- 
cational facilities. I do say that whatever need 
there is, if this country only is considered, 
would require to supply it, only the very finest 
dust on the balance compared with the ponder- 
ous weight of wealth in the vaults of the Chris- 
tian people of this land. 

What is true of our educational institutions, 
is likewise true of our churches. There is no 
real occasion for large self-denial giving to 
build churches in this country. In almost every 
village and town in this land there are church 
buildings "To let." In some of them, there 
are twice as many church edifices as there 
86 



©pens tbe Xffllfn&ows of Ibeaven 

ought to be. We have church sittings in this 
land for 45,000,000 people ; more than can pos- 
sibly get out to church at any single service. 
"The non-religious classes could be accommo- 
dated more than three times over in the spare 
room." I do not mean to say there is no occa- 
sion or demand for giving money to build and 
enlarge church edifices in this land. But I do 
mean to say that what real demand there is can 
be supplied without disturbing in the least the 
great current of wealth that is, today, flowing 
through our land like a mighty gulf stream. 

And so you may go the rounds. If the 
needs of this land and the people of this coun- 
try are alone considered, there is no occasion 
for appeals to be made calling for great self- 
denial and sacrifice in giving. And we may 
as well give the long headed business men of 
this country credit for seeing this as quickly 
as any body, for they do see it. Go to them 
and they answer you : "Our churches are well 
built and large ; our pastors are well paid and 
numerous; our educational institutions are 
ample and well equipped; our country is well 
supplied with benevolent institutions of all 
kinds/' While there are certain needs, to be 
sure, along all these lines in this country, they 
87 



XTbe ftes to the ttinQbom 

are not sufficiently great to tax the church in 
such a manner as to touch even a tithe of her 
income, much less to disturb her capital. 

On the other hand the very principle of the 
Christian religion calls for self-denial and sac- 
rifice. It requires the bringing of, at least, a 
tenth of our income into God's house, as a con- 
dition of heaven's overflowing blessing. God 
says : "Bring ye the whole tithe into the store- 
house, that there may be food in my house, and 
prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, 
if I will not open you the windows of heaven, 
and pour you out a blessing, that there shall 
not be room enough to receive it." But if there 
is no occasion, then what? Waste and prodi- 
gality, extravagance and luxury, even in the 
name of religion are sin, and will bring the 
curse of Almighty God. 

But there is an occasion. 

Let us hear Jesus Christ say, "Go into all 
the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature." Let us hear Jesus Christ say, look- 
ing out upon a starving world, starving for 
the Bread of Heaven and the bread of earth, 
"Give ye them to eat !" Then we realize there 
is a demand for colleges, schools, seminaries, 
preachers, teachers, physicians, churches, hos- 
88 



©pens tbe TOn&ows of Dea\>en 

pitals, and benevolent institutions which tax 
our largest resources. For there are a thousand 
million people who are far away from the 
Kingdom, and there is only one Christian 
worker for each 50,000 of them ; and they can 
almost be said to have, as yet, no churches, nor 
schools, nor colleges, nor preachers, nor teach- 
ers, nor physicians, nor hospitals; and we of 
this land and country must prepare these men 
and women and means, and send them forth, 
equipped in mind and heart and pocket-book 
to furnish all of these things for a starving 
and dying world. That is what Christ meant 
when He said, Make disciples of all nations 
and baptize them in the name of the Father 
and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Let that 
command be set ringing throughout our 
churches until it finds an echo in every heart, 
and there will be no trouble about getting vast 
sums of money to extend the Kingdom of God 
at home and abroad, to build churches, en- 
dow colleges and seminaries, prepare preachers 
and teachers, support missionaries, wherever 
needed. This was all true of the Antioch 
church. We read : "As they ministered to the 
Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Sep- 
arate me Barnabas and Saul for the work 
89 



Ube Hte£ to tbe 1Rin0&om 

whereunto I have called them. And when they 
had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands 
on them, they sent them away." 

I believe the church today is just as ready 
to respond if the ministers of our churches will 
teach their people "all things whatsoever 
Christ has commanded," not omitting the 
Great Commission. 

"A few years ago less than 2,000,000 of peo- 
ple in Cuba sent up a cry to be saved from 
monarchial slavery. The American people 
raised an army of 250,000 men and nearly 
$500,000,000 for the task." Will not the church 
of the living God give heed to the cry of one 
thousand million souls to be delivered from a 
literal, living hell today, and from a more ter- 
rible hell tomorrow, if they are made to hear 
that cry ring in their ears night and day? I 
tell you they will give heed speedily, although 
now they are giving for the salvation of these 
hosts of heathen less than two cents a year per 
heathen. 

Seven years ago the First Presbyterian 
church of Wichita, Kansas, was in dire distress 
of debt. It had an old church building which 
ten years before had been considered too dis- 
reputable to be used any longer as a church 
90 



©pens tbe TKainfcows ot 1beat>en 

house. It had about seven hundred members, 
almost every one of whom had come out of the 
boom practically bankrupt. It had a debt of 
$18,000 resting against its old delapidated 
property which probably could not have been 
sold for $1,800. It had a floating indebtedness 
which had been rising higher and higher each 
year until of itself it threatened to submerge 
the church. Thus affairs were rapidly getting 
worse. And when neither sun nor stars shone 
upon them for many days and no small tempest 
lay on them, almost all hope that they should 
ever be saved as a church was taken away. 
Some even advocated that the church be aban- 
doned and allowed to go to pieces. Then there 
stood up one in their midst and said : Now I 
exhort you to be of good cheer, for there need 
be no loss of the life of the church, no, not 
even of the old building. For there stood by 
me this night an angel of God whose I am and 
whom I serve, saying: thou and this people 
must stand before princes and preach the Gos- 
pel unto the uttermost parts of the earth, and 
lo I am with you always. Wherefore brethren, 
be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it 
shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto 
me. And while he yet spoke, calling attention 
91 



Ube Ikes to tbe IRing&om 

to the latest and greatest command of Christ, 
to preach the Gospel to every creature, linked 
with his best and blest promise to be with those 
who should go for Him on this mission of 
mercy, the money began to pour in from un- 
seen and unknown sources to send the glorious 
gospel to the ends of the earth. The miracle 
of the meal was literally wrought over again. 
During the past seven years $15,000 has come 
in, practically unsolicited, to preach the Gospel 
to the heathen. Another $15,000 has come in 
the same way and time to preach the Gospel in 
our home land. More than $40,000 has 
come in the same time to liquidate the 
church's indebtedness and to support its local 
work. 

The secret of it all is found in the fact that 
the church heard Jesus Christ say, "Go ye 
into all the world and preach the Gospel unto 
every creature, and lo I am with you al- 
way even unto the end of the world." If 
that church under those dire and distressing 
circumstances of poverty and debt could and 
would respond when the Great Commission 
of Christ was thus set ringing in her ears, 
there is no church in this land of ours but 
will do the same. 

92 



©pens tbe Winfcows of Ibeaven 

3. Because it is true that obedience to the 
Great Commission is the key that unlocks the 
windows of heaven and secures a revival of 
religion by a large ingathering of souls and a 
large outpouring of substance, the spirit of 
Foreign Missions is the guarding and sustain- 
ing genius of Home Missions. 

We read : "And in those days came prophets 
from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood 
up one of them named Agabus, and signified 
by the Spirit that there should be great dearth 
throughout all the world : which came to pass 
in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the dis- 
ciples, every man according to his ability, de- 
termined to send relief unto the brethren which 
dwelt in Judea : which also they did, and sent 
it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and 
Saul." Judea was Home Mission territory. 

Although Antioch was a Foreign Missionary 
church, and Paul and Barnabas were two of 
the greatest foreign missionaries that ever 
lived, they were also most mindful and service- 
able in their support of the Home work. Not- 
withstanding that the famine was over "all 
the world," "the disciples of the church at 
Antioch, every man according to his ability, 
determined to send relief unto the brethren 
93 



Ube lies to tbe Ifctnafcom 

which dwelt in Judea : which also they did, and 
sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas 
and Saul." 

If we are to save this country of ours and 
its many Gospel hardened, unconverted citi- 
zens, almost all of whom have heard the Gos- 
pel more or less from their infancy, we must 
have extraordinary Christians at home who are 
intense in their love and loyalty to Christ and 
His cause. Ordinary Christians cannot do the 
work. They do not have sufficient force back of 
them to overcome the obstacles and objections 
and surmount the difficulties, and penetrate the 
selfish, worldly coating of mail in which so- 
ciety has incrusted itself, whether it be in the 
city or country, on the plains or in the mines, 
"back east" or "out west." We must have 
Christians who have the momentum of the Al- 
mighty back of them ; heralds who are hurled 
forth on a world-wide mission; commissioned 
by the Son of God, — Jesus Christ; clothed 
with His power, — the Holy Spirit ; armed with 
the sword of the Spirit, — the Word of God. 
This we cannot have unless we have Chris- 
tians whose love knows no limitations, but 
whose hearts take in the world. Then we can 
capture any community however stubborn its 
94 



©pens tbe Mtnbows of t>eat>en 

resistance, yea our whole country for Christ. 
Then we will take the world for Christ. This 
is the kind of a revival we may have and should 
have. 

Charles W. Gordon, better known as Ralph 
Connor, through his marvellous descriptions of 
the success of the Gospel on Home Mission 
fields, is more than the celebrated author of 
"Black Rock/' or "Sky Pilot." He is a min- 
ister of the Gospel who has wrought mighty 
transformations on Home Mission fields 
among men and women hardened in sin. But 
he was first a Foreign Missionary. When he 
graduated he was commissioned to go to China, 
but failing health prevented. Because of this 
spirit reaching unto the uttermost part of the 
earth for every creature, you may see Ralph 
Connor winning victories for the cross of 
Christ in every successful Home Missionary 
minister he portrays in his books. Look at 
Moore, "The Sky Pilot," going out to Swan 
Lake, the first missionary who ever entered 
that cattle rancher's territory. He finds there 
among others hardened in sin a group of men 
who call themselves "The Noble Seven," whose 
influence dominates the whole region, and yet 
those men are banded together wholly and 
95 



XTbe lies to tbe fungbom 

solely for sinful indulgences, gambling, drink- 
ing, and general debauchery. All have heard 
the Gospel preached but all repudiate it in 
heart and practice. They resent and bitterly 
oppose the coming among them of one who 
represents that which will reprove them of 
their sinful practices and remind them of the 
godly lives of those they have left behind. 
Get these men converted and the community 
will be won for Christ. This the missionary 
sets himself to do. A long time he sows but 
the harvest is drawing near. 

In yonder shack is a lonely man named 
Bruce, raving with delirium tremens, dying of 
blood poison from a wound received in a 
drunken brawl. He is one of "The Noble 
Seven." His mother, from old Britain, has 
written him every week, vainly pleading with 
him to come home and be a Christian. A man 
called "The Duke," who is the leader of this 
band of men has done more than any one to 
lead this young man Bruce in the way of death. 
He comes now with another of his companions 
to the door of this raving man's shack. But 
they dare not enter. Through the opening of 
the building they see Bruce sitting up in bed, 
wild with delirium, shooting at imaginary 

96 



Qvens tbe TKMnfcows of 1beax>en 

devils in the stove. Between the reports of 
his gun they can hear him sing, 

" The Lord is my SHepherd, 
I'll not want." 

"The situation is one of extreme danger — a 
madman with a Winchester rifle. Something 
must be done quickly. But what? It would 
very likely mean death to anyone appearing at 
the door. 

" 'Hello, Bruce! What's the row?' shouted 
the Duke, from the outside. 

Instantly the singing stopped. A look of 
cunning delight came over his face as, without 
a word, he got his rifle ready, pointed at the 
door. 

" 'Come in !' he yelled, after waiting for 
some moments. 'Come in ! You're the biggest 
of all the devils. Come on, 111 send you down 
where you belong. Come, what's keeping you ?' 

"Over the rifle-barrel his eyes gleamed with 
frenzied delight. 

"Meantime the singing had started again. 
While the others were looking helplessly at this 
raving man through the chinks of his shack, 
Moore, the minister, deliberately leaves them 
and goes to the door. 

G 97 



XTbe Ikes to tbe 1ftinG&om 

" 'Come back !' said the Duke. 'Don't be a 
fool ! Come back, he'll shoot you dead !' 

"Moore pays no heed to him but goes in and 
succeeds in quieting the man. He washes his 
bleeding wound and ministers to him in every 
way, and by the time the others dare to come 
near, he has Bruce resting calmly. 

"All night long Moore soothed and tended 
the sick man, now singing softly to him, and 
again beguiling him with tales. The Duke 
spoke to Bruce once or twice, but the only 
answer was a groan or curse with an increase 
of restlessness. 

" 'He'll have a close squeak,' said The Duke. 

" 'He has not been fortunate in his friends,' 
said the minister, looking straight into the 
Duke's eyes. 

" 'You might have done anything with him. 
Why didn't you help him?' Moore's tones 
were stern and very steady, and he never 
moved his eyes from the other man's face, but 
the only reply he got was a shrug of the shoul- 
ders.' " 

For the minister to say that, at that time 

and in that way, required a heart of love and a 

head of wisdom born of a yearning desire to 

save not only Bruce and The Duke but every 

98 



Ovens tbe Minfcows of ft>eav>en 

creature. It meant that the minister had no 
doubt that every man is to some extent his 
brother's keeper, and the surest way to save 
a man is to make him feel his responsibility 
to save others, to do which he must deny him- 
self. This minister was just such an extraordi- 
nary Christian as to believe all this, not only 
theoretically but practically, and so he took his 
own life in his hand, and while he sought to 
save the dying man he sought also to save the 
living. How does he succeed? 

Bruce there is dying. He calls for 'The 
Pilot.' The minister comes to his bedside. He 
confesses his sin and owns the Saviour, but 
longs to live to show his sincerity. 

" 'Read the Prodigal,' he said faintly. The 
minister read that matchless story. 

" 'My letter — in my coat — read !' The last 
letter from his mother was read to him. It 
closed: 'And oh, Davie, laddie, if ever your 
heart turns home again, remember the door is 
aye open, and it's joy you'll bring with you to 
us all.' 

"The dying man took the letter from the 
minister's hand, put it with difficulty to his lips, 
and then, touching the open Bible, he said, 
between his breaths : t»rfC 
99 



TLbc Ifces to tbe Ifttna&om 

" 'It's — very like, — there's really — no fear, is 
there?' 

" 'No, no ;' said Moore, with cheerful, con- 
fident voice, 'No fear of your welcome.' " 

Bruce is dead. What about the Duke? 
Now the Duke does a beautiful thing: reach- 
ing across his dead friend he offered his hand 
to the Pilot. 'Mr. Moore,' he said, with fine 
courtesy, 'You are a brave man and a good 
man; I ask your forgiveness for much rude- 
ness.' 

" 'The Company of the Noble Seven will 
meet no more.' " 

They did meet, however, but when they did, 
the Pilot was in the chair, and it was not for 
poker, but for prayer. 



100 



Dow to Bppis tbe Ikes 



CHAPTER V. 

HOW TO APPLY THB KEY. 

We are living in an age of great events. It 
could not be otherwise, unless men were wholly 
indifferent to their opportunities. The person 
who has the power of a Niagara at his com- 
mand and yet who has no higher ambition 
than to do only such things as call for the 
power of a tiny rivulet, is certainly born out of 
harmony with his surroundings. But such a 
person would, indeed, be reprehensible, if in ad- 
dition to unlimited power to do things, there 
were placed before him correspondingly large 
things to be done. This means opportunity on 
a grand scale, when the needed power and the 
work needing to be done face each other. Op- 
portunity, then, means to such as appear upon 
the scene of action grave responsibility. 

The Church has just such an opportunity. 
Within her possession is the Gospel of all 
blessing, both temporal and spiritual. On the 
one side is the promise of "All power in heaven 
and in earth," and that "The gates of hell shall 
101 



Tlbe ftes to tbe InnGfcom 

not prevail against her." On the other side 
is the command: — "Teach all nations. Bap- 
tize them in the name of the Father, and the 
Son and the Holy Ghost." 

The Church, however, while it is doing a 
certain good work in the world, comes about 
as near failing to embrace its opportunity as 
it is possible to do. With a power greater 
than a Niagara at her back, with a work 
calling for a power greater than a Niagara 
at her front, she still spends her days in com- 
parative idleness, accomplishing little. If 
Christ meant what he said, That all power is 
given unto Him in heaven and in earth; and 
that His Church should, in His strength, go 
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Triune God, then the Church is 
certainly treating Christ and her own mission 
in the world, in what seems to be, a very light 
and trivial manner ; for she is not only not em- 
bracing her opportunity, she is not even plan- 
ning to do so. Her largest plans and enter- 
prises of a missionary nature are wholly in- 
adequate to the subjugation of this world. They 
are characterized by such petty, trivial, child's 
play plans as call for two cents a week, or 
nickel and dime collections, or thimble and tea- 
102 



1bow to BppiE tbe Ifces 



party gatherings ; all making no more impres- 
sion on the heathen world than the crumbs 
that fell from the rich man's table, did upon 
Lazarus' stomach. Not only that ; these petty 
plans of raising money for Foreign Missions 
make the cause which they purport to represent 
appear so small and insignificant in the eyes of 
the members of our churches, that they have 
little or no concern whether such a cause lives 
or dies; hence they even fail to provide the 
crumbs. For a cause that can live on crumbs 
cannot be much of an enterprise or else can 
exist without even the crumbs. And the mem- 
bers of our churches, the men of our churches 
especially, have decided to give their attention 
and interest to business concerns that call for 
more than two cents a week. And under the 
circumstances they cannot be blamed. If that 
is all the cause of Foreign Missions is worth, 
and all the demand it has a right to make upon 
us, then it is worth less. But if it has a right 
to demand from all of God's people all they 
have, then why allow the cause to be so be- 
littled and misrepresented as our present plans 
and policies admit of? 

It is time that all churches and church mem- 
bers were aroused to action, else the lamenta- 
103 



Ubc Utes to tbe Ifcing&om 

tion of Christ over the ancient Jewish church, 
will fittingly fall upon the church of modern 
times: "Oh Jerusalem, if thou hadst known, 
even thou, at least in this thy day, the things 
which belong unto thy peace ! But now they 
are hid from thine eyes !" It is time the church 
began to look upon this work as Christ looks 
upon it. 

I. If the members of our churches are to 
be aroused to an interest in this work, Foreign 
Missions must be presented as an enterprise 
which concerns every individual Christian. 

Christ, in His Word, fastens the responsi- 
bility for the evangelization of every creature 
upon His disciples without exception. Hence, 
if missions are to be managed on a Bible basis, 
such a policy must be adopted as will place 
the responsibility where it properly belongs, 
viz., upon the individual members of the 
church. This responsibility for each individual 
member runs along three lines: Praying, 
Going, Giving. 

Christ said, "Go ye into all the world and 
preach the Gospel to every creature." 

Christ said, "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest 
that He will send forth laborers into His har- 



104 



Dow to Bppi£ tbe Ikeg 



Christ said, "Give ye them to eat." 
Thus, as we read the words of Christ on 
this subject, we find that it was clearly His 
plan to have every person who became His 
follower impressed with the teaching that he 
was henceforth a responsible party for the 
furthering of the Gospel to the uttermost part 
of the earth. He not only intended that the 
Gospel should be preached to every creature, 
but that it should be preached by every Chris- 
tian. He emphasized this by (i) direct com- 
mands; (2) clear examples; and (3) striking 
Providences. 

II. Again, if the members of our churches 
are to be aroused to a greater interest in this 
work, Foreign Missions must be presented as 
the greatest business enterprise of all time. 
It is the great and peculiar business of God the 
Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy 
Ghost. And according to God's Word and 
Christ's command it should be the great and 
peculiar business of God's people to "teach all 
nations and baptize them in the name of the 
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost." 
Christ looked upon this work as the greatest 
business enterprise of all the ages. But how 
does the church look upon it? I mean by the 

105 



XTbe ftes to tbe Ifctnafcom 

church, the leaders in the churches, that is, 
the Ministers and Elders. They look upon 
this greatest work in the universe, as an enter- 
prise to be supported by a nickel and dime 
collection to be taken once, or twice a year 
in our churches, or to be sustained by some 
two cent a week scheme, which if it worked 
would net the "enormous amount" of $1.04 a 
year per member ; or to be extended by thimble 
and tea party gatherings. Is it any wonder 
that the hard headed, horny handed, steady 
going business men of all grades of business 
enterprise in the commercial world, from the 
peanut-stand keeper to the millionaire, are not 
aroused to an intense interest on the subject of 
Foreign Missions, when this business is pre- 
sented to them in such an apologetic, child's 
play fashion as all these methods exhibit ? No ! 
The way to arouse interest on the subject of 
Foreign Missions is to present Foreign Mis- 
sions to the members of our churches as the 
greatest enterprise of which this universe has 
ever heard; as an enterprise which demands 
their fortunes, their lives, their all. Did not the 
Son of God give His all, and sweat blood and 
drink gall and lay down His life to save this 
world ? What kind of a policy is this that we 
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1bow to Hppis tbe Ikes 



have which sets before the Presbyterian 
Church a standard of an average of one dollar 
a year per member for a work for which God 
gave His life? 

III. But how now can Foreign Missions 
be presented so as to cause every Christian to 
be concerned, and arouse the members of our 
churches to realize that this is the great busi- 
ness enterprise of the world? The Word of 
God has given us the method and told us how. 

It is this: set before the churches and in- 
dividual Christians their whole duty in a con- 
crete and definite manner. Notice, I say, whole 
duty in a definite and concrete manner. 

i. This was Christ's way. He set before 
the handful of disciples which He had gathered 
about Him, "All the world," as the field of 
their labors. But "all the world," is too gen- 
eral and abstract, so he breaks it up into indi- 
vidual and concrete form, and says, "every 
creature." But to bring it still more definitely 
before their minds, He divides the field into 
distinct sections, with definite boundaries, and 
calls them "Jerusalem," "Judea," "Samaria," 
and "the regions beyond." The regions be- 
yond or the uttermost part of the earth, is an 
abstract or general expression; so it is given 
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Ubc 1Re£ to tbe 1ktngt>OTn 



concrete and definite meaning and specified as 
occupied by both Jews and Gentiles, and each 
of these designated as a definite and concrete 
mission work to be done by particularly 
assigned churches and missionaries. 

2. Let us see what this method has to say 
to us. 

( i.) There are in round numbers one thou- 
sand million heathen in the world who have 
never heard the Gospel. Following Christ's 
method, it is said that of this number 160,000,- 
000 fall to the Presbyterian Church as her 
share of the heathen world for evangelization 
in this generation. We have now, in the Pres- 
byterian church, about one million members. 
That means that each member is responsible, 
on an average, for the preaching of the Gospel 
to 160 heathen. That is your average share, 
and my average share. That is what this 
method says to you and me. 

What does that mean for my local church? 
We have, say, 1,000 members. That means 
that my church is responsible for the preach- 
ing of the gospel to 160,000 heathen in its day 
and generation. That is what Christ's method 
says to my church. 

What does that mean for my Presbytery? 
108 



Dow to Bppis tbe Ikep 



My Presbytery has over 6,000 members. That 
means that Emporia Presbytery is responsible 
for the preaching of the Gospel to 1,000,000 
heathen in its day and generation. Does this 
in any way incline one to pray and cry out for 
help from on high? Does this show one the 
need of having and exercising more faith if 
this world is ever to be brought to Christ or 
Christ to the world? Does this lead one to 
realize that he must give as perhaps he has 
never given before, and that these two-cent-a- 
week schemes are only forms of trifling and 
playing with the great business of God ? When 
you know that you are personally responsible 
that one hundred sixty heathen souls hear of 
the crucified Christ, do you feel any more in- 
clined to go and tell them than you did before 
your duty was made thus clear and definite ? 

(2.) But this method of Christ's makes the 
work of Foreign Missions still more concrete 
and definite. This method take those 160 
heathen people, which are your share of the 
great heathen world, to whom Christ is to be 
intelligently preached, and locates them in some 
heathen village. Having them located, it pic- 
tures them to us. We find that physically, 
they have no true conception as to how to care 

109 



Ube 1*e£ to tbe ItfnG&om 

for their bodies. They have no scientific knowl- 
edge of medicine or nursing. When they are 
sick they are treated by so-called medicine men 
in a way that makes sickness ten times as bad 
as it would otherwise be. Mentally, they are 
ignorant and superstitious to a degree that 
makes life a burden. Morally, they are de- 
praved in heart and soul with leprous diseases 
of sin that are too terrible to name. Even 
little children are taught the vilest sins before 
they know their right hand from their left. 
Sin, sorrow, and suffering abound on every 
hand. And this village of 160 souls, who 
never have heard the Gospel, and who know 
nothing of Christ's love, and salvation, of His 
purity and peace, never will know of these 
blessed things, unless you tell them or have it 
done, for it is your village. 

But for my church, Christ's method of mak- 
ing the work definite and concrete shows us a 
district where there are 1,000 times as many 
people, or 160,000 people, the same number for 
which that church is directly responsible. It 
calls this district the Chefoo Station, China, 
and multiplies all the sorrows and sins and 
sufferers of the village of 160, one thousand 
times. We hear the cry, "Help! help!" ring 
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Dow to Bppls tbe Ites 



in our ears, night and day, and know that if 
we pass by on the other side and leave these 
people in their distress, they will die in their 
sins and go down into Christless graves; for 
there are no other people to help them, unless 
others shall perform their work and ours too; 
for this is our field, and their blood will be 
upon us. We are made to look upon them in 
their sickness and sin and sorrow. Stripped 
and wounded they will be left to die, unless 
we go down and pour in wine and oil and bind 
up and bless in the name of Jesus Christ. 
Christ's method says to us that either we are 
the proud, hard hearted, selfish Priest and Le- 
vite who came and looked upon a brother in 
distress, and when we saw him in his pitiful 
and helpless condition passed by on the other 
side, or else we are the Good Samaritan who 
took his life in his hand, and went to the 
rescue; and it does not leave any room for 
doubt as to which one of these two parties we 
are. A method that will do this is sure to 
touch the nerve and awaken a sense of respon- 
sibility. But, to awaken a sense of responsi- 
bility is one thing, to arise and discharge that 
responsibility is quite another and different 
thing. Failure here, is often due to not know- 
Ill 



XTbe Ikes to tbe Iktna&om 

ing how. But the same policy proposed by the 
Word of God to arouse a sense of responsi- 
bility, if still pursued, will lead to the discharge 
of responsibility and awaken an enlarged sense 
of duty. 

(3.) Consistent with the plan of Christ, 
there rise up among us, from our churches in 
the Home land, men and women of whom the 
Holy Ghost says to the churches, "Separate 
them for the work whereunto I have called 
them, and send them forth to preach the Gos- 
pel unto every creature. For there is no dif- 
ference between the Jew and the Greek, for the 
same Lord over all is rich unto all that call 
upon Him. But how shall they call on Him 
in whom they have not believed? And how 
shall they believe in Him of whom they have 
not heard? And how shall they hear with- 
out a preacher? And how shall they preach 
except they be sent? As it is written, How 
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the 
gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of 
good things." The scriptural plan for arous- 
ing interest in saving a lost world, thus places 
before the individual church the duty of asking 
for and sending forth and supporting Foreign 
Missionaries of its own. This method says, 
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Dow to Bppls tbe Ikes 



to each local church, "Take at least one of these 
men whom God's Spirit has called and send 
him forth as your missionary. You should 
at least love your foreign neighbor as your- 
self. Any church able to support a local 
pastor on the home field is able to support 
at least one missionary pastor on the foreign 
field." 

Let a definite proposition like that be de- 
liberately and seriously made to any church, in 
the light of the foregoing facts, and the mem- 
bers of that church will begin at once to prick 
up their ears and exclaim : "That sounds like 
business." The result will be, that where a 
church gave $100 to foreign missions before, 
it will now arise and give $1,000 to carry for- 
ward the work, and probably some of her own 
sons and daughters. 

(4.) But the method does and says more 
than this to us. 

When a church, like Antioch, sends forth 
her own missionary pastor, like Paul or Barna- 
bas, that pastor becomes a source of greater 
stimulation to arouse the Home Church to re- 
alize and meet its responsibility to the heathen 
world and to appreciate the greatness of the 
business entered upon. 

H 113 



ftbe IKes to tbe *fctnabom 

a. The Foreign Missionary pastor sends 
word back to his home church of the specific 
needs of his field and through correspondence 
enlists the interest, prayers, and gifts of the 
Christians at home for the work and enter- 
prises which he has in hand. For example, if 
each one of these villages of 160 heathen peo- 
ple could be supplied with a native Christian 
pastor or teacher, educated and consecrated, 
such a person, might in a generation of time, 
convert the entire village to Christ, and save 
these people for time and eternity. 

b. But consistent with the scriptural method 
we are considering, the Foreign Missionary 
pastor comes home to the church in this coun- 
try and gives a face to face presentation of the 
work he has in hand. He says, for example, 
that the Mission needs several thousand dol- 
lars at once, to erect a Normal School build- 
ing. He explains how important it is for the 
natives to be educated and equipped in Chris- 
tian schools, in order that they may preach 
and teach consistently the Gospel of Christ. 
The church readily sees all this through their 
missionary's eyes, and again, they hear Christ 
say: "Here is your opportunity to discharge 
your responsibility to the great heathen world. 

114 



Dow to Hpply tbe *Re$ 



Up, and give these thousands of dollars for 
this great work." This looks so much like 
business that the members of the church 
promptly supply the money for this work. But 
according to the indirect, nickel and dime col- 
lection policy they would not have given any- 
thing. 

(5.) Of course, the responsibility thus 
pressed home upon the individual is the aver- 
age responsibility of the members of the Pres- 
byterian church. But not all of the members 
are equally capable of doing the same amount 
of work. There is great difference of ability 
and hence of responsibility. Christ, in this 
method, while He is definite and concrete, is 
at the same time just, and to whom much has 
been given, of him shall much be required. 
This, Christ takes pains to show in the parable 
of the talents, which is a parable explanatory 
of this very business of extending the King- 
dom of God throughout the earth. The man 
who received ten talents was told to do busi- 
ness with them and occupy as much territory 
as he could until the Lord came. When the 
Lord came to set up his Kingdom officially in 
this earth, that man was given authority over 
ten cities. Why ? Because through the invest- 
115 



XTbe Ikes to tbe Ikingfcom 

ment of his influence and wealth he had made 
a conquest or its equivalent, of that much ter- 
ritory in this world for Christ. So likewise 
the man with five talents. Each were given 
to enter into the joy of their Lord for each 
had done his duty, and each received authority 
according to his works. But if the man with 
ten talents had done only a five talent business 
he would have been charged with failure of 
duty to the extent of five talents at least. So 
the lesson is plain, that our responsibility in 
this work is according to our ability. But 
it is clear that the individual ability in many 
cases is not sufficiently large to enable one to 
do what appears to be unmistakably the aver- 
age obligation. 

How now can we preserve this definite and 
concrete method of doing this world work and 
yet not make an unequal distribution of it? 
The answer to this question is clearly revealed 
to us in God's Word. 

First. While Christ fastened the responsi- 
bility for doing this work upon the individual, 
the method is one applicable to any number of 
individuals associated together, as a church, or 
a group of churches, and was so applied by the 
New Testament churches. It was the church 
116 



t>ow to HpplE tbe Ikeg 



which was at Antioch which sent forth Paul 
and Barnabas. 

Second. This definite and concrete method 
is one with the principle of God's word which 
requires of each person to pay at least a tithe 
of his income into the Lord's treasury. Every 
man, rich or poor, owes God at least a tenth 
of his income; and when these tithes are 
brought together into God's house, they will 
enable any church to adopt and apply this 
method of Christ's which sets before His peo- 
ple a definite and concrete work, commensu- 
rate with their ability, as the best method of 
getting this stupendous world work accepted 
of the people of God and accomplished by them. 

3. But what, now, is there in this method, 
of setting before individuals and churches their 
whole duty in a definite and concrete manner 
that makes it especially successful in arousing 
God's people to do this great world work, 
which is not found in the method of general 
appeal. What is the secret of its strength ? 

The secret of strength in this method is 
KNOWLEDGE. 

The field becomes known in all its greatness 
by being studied and presented in a definite, 
detailed and concrete manner. The great 
. 117 



Zbe mep to tbe frtngfcom 

trouble with the church today, with reference 
to Missions, is its ignorance. Christians read 
some, and hear more, and really know very 
little in a clear, accurate manner on this sub- 
ject. What they have that they call a knowl- 
edge of missions is a very hazy and abstract 
conception of vast areas of the earth, painted 
black, representing heathen people of cannibal 
propensities, or savage dispositions. This area 
is so large, united and massive that there seems 
no place for any single one to begin to do 
work upon it, and there is nothing that stimu- 
lates interest. What is needed is a scientific 
and analytic knowledge of the field. This can 
be accomplished only by breaking it up into 
integral parts, and accumulating individual and 
separate facts, and then classifying the facts 
according to their proper relations. 

People need to know that the heathen world 
is made up of individuals, and families, and 
villages, and cities, and provinces, and nations. 
They need to know the characters of these in- 
dividuals, and their environment in their 
homes, villages, and cities, and nations. They 
need to study the modes of thought and the 
religion of these individuals, their sins and 
sorrows and how to help them. 
118 



Dow to Bppls tbe *ftey 



Now this method of Christ, which sets be- 
fore the church, definite and concrete work, 
encourages and enables Christians to know 
these things. Having gotten the facts and data 
of a certain small section of the heathen world, 
they reach out after a knowledge of other sec- 
tions and still others ; then they correlate these 
facts and classify them, and thus they become 
generally intelligent on the subject. But the 
study must begin with the mind apprehending 
single, concrete facts, just as the study of the 
great science of botany, or anatomy, or geol- 
ogy? or astronomy, or chemistry is begun. Who 
undertakes to teach any great science by load- 
ing the whole thing off on the pupil's mind at 
once. But take a single fact, or a small group 
of facts, and bring such before the mind and 
the mind grasps this. What now is the result ? 
Interest. Just so with the study of missions. 

Place a definite concrete work before the 
mind and the mind readily appreciates it, and 
as soon as the mind is informed, an interest is 
awakened. Now from this point of intelligent 
interest, every thing will logically follow which 
is necessary for the evangelization of the 
world. 

(i.) PRAYER. Prayer is the greatest 

119 



Ubc Ikeg to the Ikinafcom 

need in the performance of mission work. It 
is the first command of Christ, relative to mis- 
sion work. He said, "Pray ye the Lord of 
the harvest that He will send forth laborers 
into His harvest." But you will remember 
that before He told them to do this, He spread 
before them a definite concrete work to be 
done, and had them look on a particular field 
white for the harvest. How can any one pray 
for Missions unless he have an intelligent in- 
terest in Missions ? He cannot and will not. 
But give him knowledge on this subject and 
he will pray. 

But from knowledge will come another very 
important and essential element in the per- 
formance of mission work, viz.: 

(2.) FEELING. It is possible, I sup- 
pose, for some people to go, like Priest and 
Levite, and stand and look upon men, and 
women and children in dire distress, wounded 
and dying, and yet turn away from them with- 
out pity or compassion. It is possible, I sup- 
pose, for certain rich men, likes Dives, to see 
with their own eyes, the heathen Lazarus lying 
at their very door, as their very own re- 
sponsible charge, and yet to be unmoved by 
the sores which the very dogs would lick from 
120 



t>ow to Bppls tbe Ikev 



pity. But I do not believe that it is possible 
for very many people to see, and hence to 
know these things, and yet not be moved with 
a feeling of genuine compassion. Even the 
Samaritan could not see a hated Jew lie and 
suffer without compassion; and I do not, I 
cannot believe that the dogs have more feeling 
than the Christian church today. 

Why is it then, that there is not more feel- 
ing on this subject of Missions throughout the 
church? It is due to the methods we have 
pursued in our mission policy. What is needed 
is to place before the people their whole duty 
in a definite and concrete manner. This will 
furnish their minds with knowledge, and 
knowledge will bring feeling, — feeling akin to 
the love of God in Christ for man. When we 
know we will feel, and not before. 

But knowledge will furnish another very 
essential factor in the performance of the mis- 
sionary work laid upon the church, viz. : 

(3.) GOING. The record of almost every 
missionary who has gone out to preach the 
Gospel to the heathen relates to us how that 
some time previous to his going, he read this 
book or that book, descriptive of certain 
heathen people and becoming informed he was 
121 



Ube lies to tbe fttngfcom 

not only led to pray and to feel, but to GO. 
It was after reading Dr. Gutzlaff's appeal, on 
behalf of China, that Livingstone resolved to 
fit himself as a medical missionary for work 
in that country. It was after reading Dr. 
Buchanan's missionary book, "The Star in the 
East" that Judson decided to become a mis- 
sionary of the Gospel in the far East. And so 
we might go the round. Place before the mind 
a definite concrete work as Christ did before 
the early disciples, — Jerusalem, Judea, Sa- 
maria, the Jews, the Gentiles, Macedonia, 
Rome, Spain, and they will become informed 
on that subject, and will pray and feel and go. 
The Good Samaritan when he saw, that is, 
knew, he went and ministered to the man in 
want. When Paul saw the man of Macedonia 
and heard his cry and knew his need then he 
gathered assuredly that the Lord had called 
him to go. 

But still again, when the mind is informed 
as it will be by the presentation, according 
to the New Testament method, of definite and 
concrete objects of mission work, there will 
be supplied another essential factor, viz. : 

(4.) GIVING. There will come from a 
clear, definite, concrete knowledge of one's 
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Dow to Bppls tbe ftes 



duty, an irresistible impulse to measure one's 
self upon that duty and accomplish it. Just 
as Elisha gave his staff to be laid upon the 
dead child, resting upon his own couch, whose 
very life he was being held responsible for by 
the mother ; just as he was impelled to go and 
stretch himself upon that dead body in love 
and self denial and agonizing prayer; just as 
the Good Samaritan when he knew of the poor, 
unfortunate, dying Jew, went to him and gave 
him the best he had, sympathy, care, and 
money; so will the Christian, when he knows 
his duty and sees it presented to him in clear 
and concrete and definite form, give of his 
best, his prayers, his sympathy, himself, and 
certainly that which is too often held dearer 
than all else, his money, to accomplish the 
work which is so plainly his to do. 

What would this mean if each individual 
Christian should be led to see his duty to a 
lost and ruined world, and to measure himself 
upon that duty ? It would mean that one mil- 
lion members of the Presbyterian church 
would give themselves to agonizing prayer as 
never before. It would mean that in every 
church the members would cry, "Oh Christ! 
thou great head of the church, send forth la- 
123 



Ube Ifces to tbe Utfngfcom 

borers into the whitened harvest !" while their 
hearts melted with tenderness and their eyes 
flowed down tears. It would mean that in 
every church, there would rise up from among 
its members a goodly number saying, "Here 
am I, Lord, send me ! send me ! I want to go !" 
But it would mean more than that. It would 
mean that people would measure themselves 
financially upon their portions of the heathen 
world. And what would that mean ? It would 
mean that God's people would cease robbing 
God and at least bring all of the tithes into 
the store-house, to be used in carrying forward 
God's work. It would mean on an average, 
that every church would have its own mission- 
ary on the foreign field, and still have abund- 
ance in its treasury to supply all home and local 
demands, and every interest of the Lord's work 
at home would flourish as never before. That 
would mean for the Presbyterian church, 
8,000 foreign missionaries on the field, instead 
of 800, and $10,000,000 a year instead of 
$1,000,000. 

4. This method works. I am not giving 
mere theory. 

(1.) In 1895 this method was applied in 
the Second Presbyterian Church of Lincoln, 
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Dow to Bppls tbe IKes 



Nebraska. The church had contributed the 
year before, all told, under the heaviest pos- 
sible pressure that could be brought to bear 
upon it under the old existing method of mak- 
ing contributions to the general fund, — $163. 
The next year, by this method, during a year 
of drought and great financial depression, 
worse than the previous year, the church con- 
tributed more than $800 for Foreign Mis- 
sions, and increased her offerings to all of the 
other boards, paid off a church debt, and added 
more than 100 members to her number, yet 
financially was really poorer than the previous 
year. 

(2.) In 1897 this method was applied to 
the First Presbyterian Church of Wichita. The 
year previous, the church had given all cold 
to Foreign Missions, $321. The next year, 
Rev. Hunter Corbett, D.D., is proposed as her 
foreign pastor, salary $600 per annum. He is 
accepted. But this is not enough. Mrs. Cor- 
bett is offered as an assistant, salary $500. She, 
too, is accepted. But these cannot do all the 
work required. A physician is needed. The 
church is offered Miss Effie B. Cooper, M. D., 
as a medical missionary at Chefoo. She is 
promptly accepted at a salary of $500 per an- 

12S 



XTbe Ikes to tbe ftina&om 

num. But this force is not yet adequate to 
reach the masses, for whom the church is re- 
sponsible before God. A lady evangelist is 
needed to accompany Dr. Cooper in her work 
to preach the gospel to the multitudes that wait 
upon her. Miss Louise Vaughan is offered, 
if the church will accept her, at a salary of 
$500. This the church cannot resist doing, 
seeing the case is so clearly one of need. She 
is added to their force. 

The Normal School at Chefoo, which was 
built by this church, is turning out each year 
native pastors and preachers, who are greatly 
needed as evangelists, but whose support must 
be looked after. A fund sufficient to support 
a score or more of these is created by the 
church at salaries ranging from $30 to $60 per 
annum. Thus the work grows apace. The 
Woman's Missionary Society assumes the sup- 
port of Mrs. Corbett. The Young People's 
Missionary Society is responsible for the sal- 
aries of Dr. Cooper and Miss Vaughan. The 
church congregation is responsible for Dr. 
Corbett's salary, encourages and superintends 
the support of native pastors, Bible women, 
scholarships, teacher's salaries, etc. 

The effect of this has been most beneficial 
126 



Dow to Bppls tbe Ifces 



and blessed in its spiritual results. During the 
past eight years eleven hundred or more mem- 
bers have been added to this church, and the 
church has closed each year with a balance in 
its treasury, besides paying a large church debt. 

"When walked on earth the incarnate Son of God, 

The Tempter showed Him from some mountain tall 
Earth's kingdoms with their glory spread abroad, 

And for a moment's worship offered all. 
What He as fief from Tempter justly spurns 

That conquers He through bitter pain and loss; 
And lifting high earth's diadem, he turns 

And says to each disciple, 'Bear My Cross ; 
Earth's kingdoms now in all their sorrow see, 
I die for them from sin to set them free; 
Go seek and save the lost, 
Redeemed at countless cost, 
All will I give thee, if thou follow Me.' 

"Our Lord and Master, we Thy voice have heard ; 

We claim Thy promise, we accept Thy cross ; 
Forth would we go, obedient to Thy word, 

To win the world by sacrifice and loss. 
Our faith is weak, but Thou canst make it strong, 

Our flesh is strong, but Thou canst make it weak; 
The praise and glory unto Thee belong, 

Give us the victory that for Thee we seek. 
'Christ for the world' — to heal its age-long pain, 
'The world for Christ' — whose right it is to reign. 
Give Him the praise, 
Through endless days, 
And Heaven and earth repeat the great Amen!'* 
127 



Ube IKes to tbe Iking&om 



CHAPTER VI. 

WHO HOLDS THE KEY? 

These are not times for indecision. Today, 
he who doubts is damned. It is so in every 
sphere of life. It is pre-eminently true in 
the sphere of Christian activity. We need, 
we must have, pastors and people who will 
dare, do, and die for their convictions. Only 
such are acceptable with God or man. A 
double minded man is unstable in all his ways ; 
let not that man think he shall accomplish 
anything of worth. The pastors of our 
churches must be right on this question of 
Foreign Missions if the key to the Kingdom is 
to be applied. Christ said to His disciples: 
"I give unto you the keys of the Kingdom of 
Heaven." The ideal pastor for Foreign Mis- 
sions makes the ideal church for Foreign Mis- 
sions. "Like priest like people." Get the 
preachers right on this subject, and our 
churches will be right. And I do not mean 
by right, right simply in theory and preaching ; 
I mean right in practice. And I do not mean 
by right in practice, right simply in the ordi- 
128 



Mbo Ifoolfcs tbe me£ 



nary practice of taking up a collection once 
or twice a year for Foreign Missions, or 
preaching eloquent, biographical and historical 
sermons on Foreign Missions. This subject 
is not one that can be handled or appreciated 
in that way successfully. I will prove this 
to you before I am through, as also my other 
statement that if you have the preacher right 
on this subject the people will be. 

I. If the minister is to discharge his mis- 
sionary obligation he must be a man who be- 
lieves literally in the Great Commission. 

I. He must believe that Jesus Christ meant 
that His disciples of each generation should go 
forth and preach the Gospel to every creature 
of their generation. No interpretation of 
Christ's word is more absurd or puerile than 
that which says that this work of making 
Christ known to every creature was meant to 
refer simply to the early disciples of Christ's 
day, except that interpretation which shoulders 
this work off upon some generation of disciples 
in the future, aided and abetted, to be sure, by 
some slight efforts put forth by certain pre- 
ceding generations of Christians, such as 
ours, as a preliminary accessory to the final 
work. 

I 129 



Ubc Ikes to tbe fttnafcom 

Away with such wresting the Word of God 
in order to escape the responsibility of doing 
this work of God ! Christ said, "Go ye into all 
the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature. Go ye and teach all nations." Christ 
died in good faith for every creature ; and He 
himself tells us that it behooved Him to suffer 
and to rise again from the dead on the third 
day, that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in His name among all 
nations. 

The presiding officer at one of the leading 
meetings of the New York Ecumenical Con- 
ference charged upon God the responsibility of 
the inactivity of the church for centuries after 
the Reformation, in the work of Foreign Mis- 
sions ; saying that God blinded the eyes of the 
church to this command, which now we see 
shining on every page of His Word, and cov- 
ered, as it were, this light, so we could not see 
it, and ignite our torches thereat and bear glad 
tidings of salvation throughout the world, until 
He got ready to illuminate our minds and have 
the work done. If that does not slander God 
then I know of nothing that does, unless it is 
to affirm that God is still blinding multitudes 
of the church to this clearest command of His 
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Word. What! Did not God die in Jesus 
Christ to save the world 1900 years ago? Did 
He not say then, "Go ye into all the world 
and preach the Gospel to every creature?" If 
this command is hidden from the church, or 
ever was so hidden, it is to such as will not see, 
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the 
minds of them which believe not, lest the light 
of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the 
image of God, should shine unto the uttermost 
parts of the earth. The ideal pastor for For- 
eign Missions, I say, believes that Jesus Christ 
meant what He said, when He gave the com- 
mand "Go ye into all the world and preach the 
Gospel to every creature." 

2. The ideal pastor for Foreign Missions 
believes that the command to go and preach 
the Gospel to all nations carries with it the 
power to convert all nations to Christ. 

That old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, 
which deceiveth the whole world, is just as 
subtle as he ever was; and he never works 
more subtlely than when he operates in con- 
nection with the great truths of God's Word, 
such as "Ye shall not surely die," or "Ye shall 
be as God." 

In connection with this most glorious work 
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XTbe ftes to tbe Ikinafcom 

of preaching the gospel to every creature and 
the inspiring truth of Christ's coming again to 
this earth, he has managed to operate so as to 
rob both of these of their largest practical en- 
couragement and inspiration. 

"Yes, go," he says, "if you will, and preach 
the gospel to every creature, evangelize every 
creature, yet if you go (and this he makes very 
many believe is the very Word of God, itself) 
"you must not expect to convert them to 
Christ, or even the most of them. A few will, 
perhaps, be gathered out here and there of 
God's elect ones, but you, i. e., the church, 
must not feel any responsibility of bringing the 
whole world under the saving influence of the 
gospel of Christ." What an apology to be 
styled the word and work of God ! No wonder 
the church holds back, heartless, before what 
is made thus to appear such a hopeless enter- 
prise. The ideal pastor will sweep all such dis- 
heartening deceptions aside with the plain 
teaching of Christ, in the words of the Great 
Commission itself; "All authority hath been 
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go, ye, 
therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost; teaching them 
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TPGtbo Dolfcs tbe ftes 



to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you: and lo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world." 

Here is a five-fold assurance of victory to 
Christ's disciples if they will go into all the 
world and preach the Gospel to every creature : 

1st. "All authority hath been given unto 
Me in heaven and in earth. Go, ye, therefore !" 
He who commands to go has power omnip- 
otent to bestow, and to draw all men unto 
Him, when He is lifted up. As clear as the 
command to go, so certain is the assurance of 
conquest. 

2nd. "Make disciples of all nations." This 
clearly means to convert all nations and make 
them Christian. The command to do this is 
just as clear as the command to go, and the 
power just as sure. 

3rd. "Baptizing them into the name of the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." This means 
the same as the foregoing, — a subjugation of 
the nations, by the command and authority of 
Christ. 

4th. "Teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you." This is 
but another way of saying the same thing: — 
make all nations Christian. 

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Ube f?es to tbe ftin^om 

5th. "Lo, I am with you alway even unto 
the end of the world." What else can this 
mean than a conquest of the nations, from the 
beginning to the end of the age of grace, if 
the presence of the All powerful Christ goes 
with His disciples as they preach His Gospel 
unto every creature? 

Shall we exclaim with Fuller, when Wm. 
Carey spread before him the triumphs of the 
Gospel, if preached to the heathen : "If God 
should open the windows of heaven, might 
these things be !" Rather shall we not declare, 
"If we will do our part, God will open the win- 
dows of heaven and pour out a blessing from 
generation to generation that there shall not 
be room enough to receive it, — even the sal- 
vation of this lost race?" Is anything more 
inspiring? Away with such an unscriptural, 
diabolical, funereal conception of Foreign 
Mission work, which starts a man away from 
home with the assurance, that, in his case, the 
path of duty is the way of failure; that the 
songs of those whom he will see redeemed will 
certainly be drowned by the weeping and wail- 
ing and gnashing of teeth of the damned, to 
whom he has preached the Gospel in vain; 
while his reward is on high. Couid anything 
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XPtttbo f>ol&s tbe Uses 



be more dispiriting and utterly foreign to 
God's Word, which commands us to go out 
into the streets and lanes of the city, the high- 
ways and hedges, and compel men to come in ; 
which says, "the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against us, and that, "if Christ be lifted up He 
will draw all men unto Him ?" Christ, for the 
joy that was set before Him, endured the 
cross, despising the shame. He was to see 
of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied. 
This was His inspiration. This may be our 
inspiration; and the ideal pastor for Foreign 
Missions must have such a vision. If the 
church has not had such success, it is because 
she has never obeyed her Lord's command. 

II. Again, the ideal pastor for Foreign 
Missions has the courage of his convictions. 

One of the most subtle subterfuges of the 
devil, when he comes across pastors who really 
believe in Foreign Missions, is to scare them 
out of their convictions by saying to them 
through the mouth of some pious saint, "Now 
we can't do much along this line of Foreign 
Missions until we get our church debt re- 
moved, or a new church built, or your salary 
secured, or increased, or a pipe-organ, or the 
other people recover from the hard times. You 
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TLbc Hes to tbe frtn0t>om 

must not press this matter, for the people won't 
stand it." Hereupon 99 out of 100 of our pas- 
tors get weak-kneed, and drop a nickel or dime 
or possibly a dollar in the missionary slot ma- 
chine for themselves and take up a nickel or 
dime collection from their people and let this 
matter, for which the Son of God gave every 
drop of blood in His body, go along easy. 

God give us pastors who have the courage to 
say kindly to each of these pious frauds, call- 
ing themselves saints, "Get thee behind me 
Satan : for thou savourest not of the things 
that be of God, but of the things that be of 
men." Unless we expect to let our Saviour go, 
we will not let this matter go, — but we will 
make it go, — and go, too, in a way that will 
mean business, and in no two-cent-a-week 
child's play manner. 

This will mean, perhaps, to stir up a hornet's 
nest for a little time in the local church; but 
the hornet's nest will soon be transformed into 
a beehive and the church will become a place 
humming with business for God, where God's 
Word will be precious, "sweeter than honey 
and the honeycomb" to multitudes far and 
near. 

Better is it that no new churches should be 
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Mbo foolbs the Tkev 



built, and no old ones paid for, and ministers' 
salaries go unprovided, and people never get 
out of debt, than that our churches should put 
off this work of world-wide salvation while 
they live for self and become solely self-cen- 
tered. Let our pastors rise up with the cour- 
age of their convictions and smite these 
churches hip and thigh with the living, loving 
word of God, until they repent and exclaim, 
as they will, "Before I was chastened I went 
astray, but now have I learned thy law." To 
lead a church to discharge its duty to the for- 
eign field may mean that pastors will have to 
surrender some of their salary and some of 
the comforts of life, and take risks of sur- 
rendering their pastorates, but what of that? 
They will own their Lord. I am confident that 
God is looking up and down the land for pas- 
tors who are willing to do these things for 
Christ's sake and the Gospel's. Neither shall 
they in any wise lose their reward. 

I know a pastor who went down a little 
way into the valley of Gethsemane with Christ, 
and came out refreshed and strengthened after 
a season of hard struggle over this matter. 
After placing this work before the church in 
a manner somewhat commensurate with the 
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Ube f?es to tbe Unngfcom 

needs of the world and ability of the church, 
asking the church for $1,000 where before 
they had given $100, he was met by the board 
of trustees and told that he must not press 
this upon the church, otherwise his own salary 
would have to be lessened. The pastor said, 
"Very well, brethren, if you will not join me in 
this, then stand by and see the salvation of the 
Lord ; this thing is going to be done at what- 
ever cost to myself, for I am convinced that the 
cause of Christ and the life of the church de- 
mand it." And it was done. At the end of 
the year the church had raised almost $1,000 
for Foreign Missions, paid off its debt, paid 
the pastor in full, paid all other expenses, had 
money in the treasury, and had added ioo peo- 
ple, by conversion, to its membership. Besides 
this, the board of trustees and every body else 
in the church was converted to the missionary 
idea, and the church took front rank, not only 
as an ideal church for Foreign Missions, but 
as an ideal church in every other good work 
for God and man, and has grown from a little 
church of 35 members, a few years ago, to one 
of the leading churches of the Presbyterian de- 
nomination. 

I know another pastor who had the same 
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Mbo Iboifcs tbe Uses 



missionary convictions, and a church of about 
400 well-to-do people. There stood with him 
a number of his people ready to back him in 
an heroic forward movement for Foreign Mis- 
sions, but the trustees threatened his salary, 
and discouraged such a step. He yielded to 
the opposition. Result: the church from that 
day began to fall behind in their pastor's sal- 
ary, — (a thing they had never done before) 
and to lose interest generally in all lines of 
work, going from bad to worse, until what 
was one of the most prosperous churches in 
the state, in a great city, with large opportuni- 
ties all about it, became so possessed of dry rot, 
that the pastor had to withdraw, and the 
church fell into a pastorless and almost help- 
less condition. The pastor himself told me, he 
did not doubt that the church, at that time, 
grieved the Holy Spirit so greatly as to occa- 
sion His withdrawal for a season. 

Nothing is more certain or more susceptible 
of proof than that the ideal pastor for Foreign 
Missions makes the ideal church for Foreign 
Missions ; but more, the ideal pastor for For- 
eign Missions makes the ideal church in every 
particular. 

Baxter said of the preachers of his time, 

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TLbc lies to tbe UtfnGfcom 

that they did not look over the palings of their 
parishes. Nothing makes a preacher smaller or 
a parish smaller than to live a circumscribed 
selfish life. On the other hand nothing en- 
larges a preacher's life and the usefulness of 
himself and his church so much as for him to 
catch the spirit of S. J. Mills, which is the 
Spirit of Jesus Christ. "Although we are very 
little creatures," said he, "we must make our 
influence reach round the world." Until a 
preacher realizes that he and his church are 
to be as a city set on a hill which cannot be 
hid, and as the salt of the earth, and the light 
of the world, they are of small account to save 
or savor or illuminate the locality in which 
they are placed ; for the salt has lost its savor, 
the light is under a bushel, and the city will 
be as Sodom and Gomorrah. 

I agree most cordially at this point with Dr. 
Charles Cuthbert Hall, who says: "As for 
the man who shall enter the pastorate at home ; 
he cannot be an able minister until his torch 
has been kindled at this altar of Foreign Mis- 
sions, his lips touched with this living coal. 
Deny him this access in his ministerial train- 
ing, fail to provide him with the world-wide 
interest, neglect to teach him how to lift up 
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Wbo Delfts tbe Ikcv 



his eyes and look upon the white harvest fields 
of the world, omit to conquer him with the 
missionary idea, and he goes forth into the 
world lagging behind the eager spirit of his 
time, shackled with disadvantage, condemned 
in an age of catholicity to lead a life of pro- 
vincialism. 

"He requires it for himself that he may be- 
come a man of vision, a man of large and 
powerful conceptions, a man of capacity to in- 
spire others." The truth is 

"It takes a soul 
To move a body : it takes a high-souled man 
To move the masses even to cleaner sty; 
It takes the ideal to blow an inch inside 
The dust of the actual." 

But given a man with the true missionary 
ideal and vision, and he will turn and overturn 
in his church and community until he shall 
have wrought such wonders for God as will 
make the ears of them that hear thereof to 
tingle. He will move the church, he will move 
the community, he will move the world God- 
ward and heaven manward. 



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XTbe IKeE to tbe Ifcinafcom 

CHAPTER VII. 
the; triumph of the kingdom. 

The student of history cannot fail to be im- 
pressed with the fact of progress. "Through 
the ages one increasing purpose runs/' There 
is a purpose, it is an increasing purpose, and 
this purpose is continuous. Progress may be 
slow, it may seem at times to "halt on palsied 
feet." One even declares that "A stationary 
state is by far the most frequent condition of 
man as far as history describes that condition ; 
the progressive state is only a rare and occa- 
sional exception." But no one who studies the 
end from the beginning, or compares the pres- 
ent with the past, can deny the fact of progress, 
especially if such an one is cognizant of the 
marks of true progress. 

It is not progress, simply "that we should 
be able to travel at sixty instead of six miles 
an hour." It is not progress simply "that our 
legislators in city and nation should be chosen 
directly by the people." It is not progress 
simply "that each morning our newspaper 

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TLbc XTrfumpb of tbe Ikinafcom 

should lie on the breakfast table, putting the 
news of the world's chief events during the 
previous twenty-four hours before us." These 
may be signs of progress, but if progress is 
simply or essentially a marvelous manipula- 
tion of the things of the material universe, a 
gratification of the desire of the flesh, the de- 
sire of the eyes, the pride of life; then it is 
only a question of time when Progress, too, 
will go into the grave, for these all shall wax 
old as doth a garment. Even Professor Hux- 
ley agrees with the Word of God in this par- 
ticular. He says: 

"If for millions of years our globe has taken 
the upward road, yet some time the summit 
will be reached and the downward route will 
be commenced. The most daring imagination 
will hardly venture upon the suggestion that 
the power and intelligence of man can ever ar- 
rest the procession of that great year." 

Kirk White asks, 

"What is this passing life? 
A peevish April day; 

A little sun, a little rain, 

And then night sweeps along the plain, 
And all things fade away." 

Progress pertains to things that are divine 
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XTbe meg to t&e Tkinafcom 

and enduring ; it has to do with character, and 
spiritual life, and immortality. Progress has 
to do with the triumph of the Kingdom of 
Heaven. Hence I wish to call your attention 
in this chapter to the theme, The Triumph of 
the Kingdom of Heaven. 

I. The triumph of the Kingdom is a tri- 
umph of Truth. Jesus Christ says, "The King- 
dom of God is within you." Again he re- 
peated this in another form by saying: "Ye 
shall know the truth and the truth shall make 
you free." Again, "My kingdom is not of 
this world ; if my kingdom were of this world 
then would my servants fight for me that I 
should not be delivered unto the Jews. But 
now is my kingdom not from hence." 

"Pilate therefore said unto Him, Art thou a 
king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that 
I am a king. To this end was I born and for 
this purpose came I into the world that I 
should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone 
that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate 
saith unto him, What is truth ?" Here we are 
clearly taught that the triumph of the King- 
dom of Christ is a triumph of truth. 

As rapidly as men have come to know the 
truth so the Kingdom of God has triumphed 
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Ubc Urfumpb of tbe IktnQfcom 

in this world. For, the Kingdom of God is 
first within. Ideals are before reals. Where 
and when true ideals become real, where and 
when the word of God becomes flesh and 
dwells among men, there and then, and only 
there and then, does the Kingdom of God be- 
come triumphant. 

The Word says, "Where there is no vision 
the people perish." Professor Hart says, 
"Great ideals precede and cause great achieve- 
ments. The ideal Achilles made the real heroes 
of Marathon and the Granicus." 

I. That the triumph of the kingdom is 
a triumph of truth, i. e., that a coming to 
know the truth on the part of the people, con- 
ditions the coming of the kingdom among 
men, is seen when we consider how patiently 
God worked to get lodged in the minds of 
men a true knowledge of Himself, — the King. 

"To the Jew was assigned the distinguished 
task of receiving, holding, and bearing witness 
to the knowledge of the one only living and 
true God, the Creator and King of the whole 
earth, who loves righteousness and hates iniq- 
uity; and this in a world where outside of 
Palestine, polytheism was universal, and pagan 
darkness. But, the training of this people and 
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XTbe IKes to tbe Ustnafcom 

the accomplishment of their mission required 
not less than fifty generations." 

Why did God wait all those years before 
he announced, The Kingdom of Heaven is 
at hand? Simply because the triumph of the 
Kingdom depends upon the triumph of truth 
over error, and a knowledge of the one only 
living and true God is the first step out of 
darkness into light. But, as Douglas Macken- 
zie says, "When we stand with Abraham and 
behold in his faith the faint beginning of mon- 
otheism; when we trace the growth of that 
faith through the critical periods of Israel's 
history ; when we realize that here a new phe- 
nomenon is before us, namely, a faith which 
grows purer and stronger, instead of baser and 
weaker, with the flight of time, one which be- 
comes grander and deeper in its intellectual 
assertions instead of falling away into the 
inept, the vague, the puerile, — then the con- 
ception of God who has taken hold of indi- 
vidual men and of man's history assumes an 
overwhelming authority. When at last we see 
and watch and prove Jesus Christ, and find 
that through Him we have a life of intercourse 
with God, the evidence becomes irresistible that 
here at last the real relations of mankind to 
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Ubc Urtumpb of tbe Ikfn^om 

the Eternal are made known, that now a fel- 
lowship with God can be experienced which 
will carry the moral nature of each man for- 
ward to its true glory." "This is life eternal," 
says Christ, "that they might know Thee the 
only living and true God, and Jesus Christ 
whom thou hast sent." And this is, indeed, a 
glorious triumph for the Kingdom. What I 
am trying to teach here may be better under- 
stood by an illustration : 

"It is said that one day an intimate friend 
of the poet Tennyson said to him : 'My dearest 
object in life, when at my best, is to leave the 
world, by however little, better than when I 
found it ; what is yours V " 

Now if that person succeeded in accomplish- 
ing his desire, in so far as he left the world 
better, he caused the Kingdom of God to 
triumph. 

But Tennyson's answer was: "My greatest 
wish is to have a clearer vision of God." 

Why did the great poet choose this rather 
than the other? Because the vision and 
knowledge of God goes before the work of 
extending the Kingdom of God. The man 
who has a clear vision of God will meet all 
the tests of a right life. 
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TLbc Ikes to tbe frtnafcom 

But when this victory of truth over error is 
made, when the knowledge of the only living 
and true God is given, and the result preserved 
"in an incomparable Book, the Bible, overflow- 
ing with the loftiest thoughts and emotions, 
clothed also in language possessing beauty and 
energy unmatched," truth has triumphed only 
sufficiently for the announcement to be made, 
"The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand !" 

2. Now, again, we learn that che triumph 
of the Kingdom depends upon man coming to 
know the truth, when we observe how patiently 
God has worked to teach the race the true idea 
of the Kingdom of Heaven, itself. Not only 
must there be a true idea of the King, but also 
a true idea of the Kingdom. 

When Jesus Christ was here upon earth, He 
had very much to say and teach concerning 
the Kingdom of Heaven. Indeed, this was the 
burden of His life. "He undertakes to estab- 
lish on earth the Kingdom of God and to make 
men conscious of its existence and character." 
But His disciples, up until the time of His 
death and after, seemed to fail utterly to grasp 
the significance of His words. At the very 
time of His ascension they were still thinking 
of a narrow, Jewish, world Kingdom, and 
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Ube Udumpb of tbc IfttnGfcom 

asked, Wilt thou at this time restore again 
the Kingdom to Israel? At the time of the 
outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pente- 
cost, however, the idea began to take posses- 
sion of them that Christ's Kingdom was "a 
new and spiritual relationship centered in 
Himself, a brotherhood of lovers, taking prece- 
dence of all human ties, including all sexes, 
ages, classes, and covering ages of time." 

But this idea of the Kingdom of God, like 
the idea of the King — the only true God — 
has been slow in getting possession of the 
minds and hearts of mankind. Only now, after 
more than fifty generations have gone since 
Christ promulgated this doctrine of the King- 
dom, has this truth found such lodgment in the 
minds of men as to make the triumph of the 
Kingdom over the whole earth, a possibility. 

But as one says : "A new hope and a new 
vision have been slowly dawning on our inap- 
prehensive minds. The vision is that of all 
nations drawn irresistibly into one common 
life; the hope is that the forces which make 
the nations one will prove adequate to secure 
a permanent progress. The nineteenth century 
opened when that vision was before few if any 
minds, whether of poet or saint. Men could 
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not think of the one life of mankind, with 
Africa an unknown darkness, India in pristine 
disorder, China enjoying still her ancient slum- 
ber and her impenetrable dreams, Polynesia but 
a number of scattered spots of human degrada- 
tion in the Pacific ocean. Today we are gaz- 
ing on the rapid realization of the unity of 
mankind in commerce, politics, education, and 
religion. These forces are daily increasing the 
communion of all parts of the world with one 
another and deepening the interdependence of 
all races and nations." 

Here, now, we have the conditions of the 
triumph of the Kingdom. "On the one hand, 
the object of Christian faith is a Being who is 
manifested as at once holy and loving. On the 
other hand, this Being, the living God is mani- 
fested as seeking and securing the fellowship 
of all men." 

On these two great ideas hang all the law 
and the prophets. "Hear, oh Israel, the Lord 
our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the 
Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all 
thy soul and with all they mind and with all 
thy strength. This is the first and great com- 
mandment, and the second is like unto it, thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
ISO 



XTbe Uriumpb of tbe IkingDom 

II. How is the Triumph of the Kingdom to 
be secured? Only by personal loyalty to the 
truths of the Kingdom. By personal loyalty 
is meant the practical outworkings of the in- 
ward principles, the natural, harmonious, out- 
ward testimony of the supernatural, holy, in- 
ward teaching. 

"Are you a society," was asked of George 
Macdonald's Robert Falconer when he worked 
among the poor in London. "No ; why should 
we be anything. We are an undefined com- 
pany of people who have grown into human 
relationship with each other naturally through 
one attractive force, — love for human beings." 

This is what Christ meant when He said, 
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven 
which a woman took and hid in three measures 
of meal, till the whole was leavened." 

There is outward organization, but it is the 
outgrowth of an inward principle. It is not 
by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, 
saith the Lord. If my Kingdom were of this 
world, says Christ, that is, of the world's way 
or organization, then would my servants fight, 
but now is my Kingdom not from hence. I 
do not believe that any stroke of the sword, 
as such, ever advanced the Kingdom of God. 
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Wars have emphasized great ideas, and like 
the law may have been used as schoolmasters 
to lead men to know the truth in Christ. But 
if the sword has ever been used under God's 
sanction, I believe it has been in judgment 
"when the cup of iniquity was already full," 
and because God's people were not faithful in 
their testimony to the truth. What is the 
meaning of those parables of the Lord con- 
cerning the Kingdom? 

i. "The Kingdom of Heaven is likened 
unto a man which sowed good seed in his 
field. But while men slept, his enemy came 
and sowed tares among the wheat, and went 
his way. But when the blade was sprung up, 
and brought forth fruit, then appeared the 
tares also. So the servants of the householder 
came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not 
sow good seed in thy field ? from whence then 
hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy 
hath done this. The servants said unto him, 
Wilt thou then that we go and gather them 
up? But he said, Nay: lest while ye gather 
up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with 
them. Let both grow together until the har- 
vest : and in the time of harvest I will say to 
the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, 
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Ebe Utfumpb of tbe 1king&om 

and bind them in bundles to burn them: but 
gather the wheat into my barn." 

But what is the meaning of this parable? 
Is there no protection that man can use against 
the enemy and tares? Yes. It is found in 
the character of the good seed and faithful 
sowing. Christ himself explains: 

2. "Another parable put he forth unto them 
saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is like to a 
grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and 
sowed in his field: which indeed is the least 
of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the 
greatest among the herbs, and becometh a tree, 
so that birds of the air come and lodge in the 
branches thereof." 

Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like unto 
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three 
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." 

The good seed of the Kingdom conquers 
by displacing. Teach the truth. Teach it by 
tongue, by pen, by example; living it, and 
dying for it. Sow the good seed of the King- 
dom in season, out of season, beside all waters, 
in politics, in business, in social life, in home 
life, in tears. "He that goeth forth and weep- 
eth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come 
again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with 
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Zbc IKes to tbe Ikinafcom 

him." This is an individual matter, but it con- 
cerns the progress of the Kingdom of God. 
Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap. 
Yes, and the harvest he reaps will either en- 
rich or impoverish the Kingdom of God, and 
so advance or retard its progress. 

"A sower went forth to sow. 
On his cheeks was the health-lit glow 

Of the young and strong, 

And the life that is long, 
And the brain that is swift to know. 

He had no measure 

To gauge his pleasure, 

But, sowing his seeds 

Of designs and deeds, 

He had little care 

Was it wheat or tare 

Which he sowed broadcast 

In the earth. At last 
Thick and strong were the seeds. 
Alas! that they were but weeds. 

"A sower went forth to sow, 
In his heart was the faith-fed glow, 

And the love and zeal 

Of the men who feel 
That only the best should grow. 

He sowed for others, 

All men his brothers ; 

And fair were the seeds 

Of designs and deeds 
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Which with pains and care 

And in earnest prayer 

He sowed broadcast 

In the earth. At last 
His fields were filled with the best — 
And earth, rain, and sun did the rest. 

"A reaper, with low-bowed head, 
A heavy, reluctant tread, 

Was forced to stand 

On his weed-spoiled land 
Which none might reap in his stead. 

Too late repentings, 

Regrets, lamentings; 

The crops from the seeds 

Of his evil deeds 

To his shame and sin 

Must be gathered in. 

He turned in pain 

From the task ; but in vain 
Did he loiter, struggle, or weep — 
That which he sowed, that must he reap. 

"In harvest, when fields were white, 
A reaper went forth in the light, 
And the radiant morn 
And the golden corn 
Filled his soul with a strange delight. 
There was no weeping 
In his glad reaping; 
But wonder at wealth 
Which had come as by stealth ; 

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Ube IKes to tbe Ifctngbom 

For his sheaves were great. 

Then his heart, elate, 

Asked the angels 'Why?' 

And their low reply- 
Was not heard by his ears alone — 
'Thou art reaping as thou hast sown.'" 

The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man 
which sowed good seed in his field. 

III. What progress has been made toward 
the triumph of the Kingdom? The morning 
cometh ! — Christ's Kingdom has always been 
a coming Kingdom. This is according to the 
teaching of Christ. We read: "And he said, 
So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should 
cast seed into the ground, and should sleep, 
and rise night and day, and the seed should 
spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For 
the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first 
the blade, then the ear; after that, the full corn 
in the ear." 

D. L. Leonard says : "Four stages of growth 
may be distinguished in the progress of the 
Kingdom of God. First, the time of seed- 
planting and germination, which includes the 
first two millenniums ; next the early Christian 
centuries, when the blade began to appear; 
then the last two hundred years, which may 
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Ubc Uriumpb of tbe Ifcinafcom 

be fitly termed earing-time. The fourth, the 
full corn in the ear, is yet future, but is not the 
heavenly harvest evidently ripening around the 
whole earth, and is not the sublime consum- 
mation already within the range of human 
vision ?" 

"I suppose," says Wardlaw Thompson, 
"every generation is inclined to say that its 
experience is the most remarkable ever known 
in the history of the world. But this has been 
a very remarkable century in many directions, 
and to me the most remarkable feature of this 
most remarkable century is the wonderful 
way in which all the processes of God's provi- 
dence seem to have been f ocussed on the work 
of extending the Kingdom of God ... 
At the beginning of the century the Church 
of Christ as a whole was actually opposed to 
this work. Today every section of the Church 
of Christ feels it to be its duty to have its mis- 
sions, its missionary society, and, though there 
are still a large number of people who, at heart, 
are lukewarm — the best of them lukewarm — 
yet it is respectable even for them to subscribe 
to further the Gospel in all the earth. Now 
that is a very remarkable change of feeling. 5 ' 

I. Notice that the idea of the one living 
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Ube f*es to tbe funGfcom 

and true God, as King, is in a fair way to 
become now well nigh universal. Says Dr. 
Gulick, "All forms of polytheism are doomed 
to extinction. At one time polytheism was the 
belief of all nations of the world. But the 
extent of its rule has been constantly diminish- 
ing. Today there is no polytheistic self-gov- 
erning nation of any size on the face of the 
globe." 

2. Notice, too, the spread of the knowledge 
of God in Christ as reconciling the world unto 
Himself is coming to cover the earth as the 
waters cover the sea. The adherents of Chris- 
tianity at the end of the tenth century did not 
exceed fifty millions. At the end of the fifteenth 
century they numbered one hundred millions. 
During the past one hundred years Christianity 
has gained nearly three times as many adher- 
ents as it did during the first fifteen hundred 
years. The numbers of those who today are 
living under Christian standards and ideals of 
moral life and conduct, whether professedly 
followers of Christ or not, is about 500,000,000. 
This five hundred million or one-third of the 
whole population, govern about nine hundred 
million people or about two-thirds of the 
world's population. Besides this, the Protest- 
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Ubc XCtiumpb ot tbe mingfcom 

ant nations alone rule about twice as much 
territory as all the non-christian nations com- 
bined. 

All these things point to one inevitable con- 
clusion: the certain triumph of the Kingdom 
of Heaven. 

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Does his successive journeys run; 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 

"For Him shall endless prayer be made, 
And praises throng to crown His head ; 
His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise 
With every morning sacrifice. 

"Peoples and realms of every tongue 
Dwell on His love with sweetest song; 
And infant voices shall proclaim 
Their early blessings on His name. 

"Blessings abound where'er He reigns; 
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains; 
The weary find eternal rest, 
And all the sons of want are blest. 

"Let every creature rise, and bring 
Peculiar honors to their King; 
Angels descend with songs again, 
And earth repeat the loud Amen." 

How soon this shall be depends in large 
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TLbc Ties to tbe 'fiungfcom 

measure upon you and me, and what we think 
of the cause. In fact, it is a question of our 
appreciation of Jesus Christ as our Saviour 
and Lord, and whether we are willing to deny 
ourselves, and take up the cross and follow 
Christ, who said, Except a corn of wheat fall 
in the ground and die it abideth alone, but if 
it die it bringeth forth much fruit. Are we 
willing to be witnesses, martyrs, for Christ's 
sake and Gospel's? 

Truly does M. L. Gordon ask in poetic 
strain : 

"Is it worth while with life's fierce storms to wrestle, 

To face and fight the driving wind and rain, 
To stretch and strain each nerve, and bone, and 
muscle, 
O'er flaunting foes a victory to, gain — 
Is it worth while? 

"Is it worth while the steep ascent of heaven 

To climb with aching limbs and weary feet, 
By hope and duty ever onward driven, 
Deaf to the siren ease, with songs so sweet — 
Is it worth while? 

"Is it worth while to sow beside all waters 

The precious seeds of faith, and hope, and love ; 
To rest not till earth's many sons and daughters 
By righteous fruits make glad e'en heaven above — 
Is it worth while? 

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Zbc Uriumpb of tbe ftfnGfcom 



'O gracious Christ, at thy dear feet low falling, 
In thy dear wounds our trembling hands we press, 

And thee our pattern and our Lord now calling, 
We lose our doubts our hearts at times confess. 
It is worth while! 

'For thou didst bravely give thy life for others, 

Didst bear the cross and walk the way of shame ; 
So naught for men whom thou dost call thy brothers 
Should daunt the hearts that bear thy blessed 
name — 

It is worth while!" 



K 161 



AUG 19 1904 



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